Redemption
by Catherine Maya
Summary: It's been 10 years since the Warrior Princess made her final sacrifice on the mountain top in Japa. But Gabrielle and Eve have begun hearing her cry for help, and they'll find Amphipolis holds more secrets than ever before. **SUBTEXT!**
1. Chapter 1

Redemption

**All rights belong to Universal and Renaissance Pictures**

Jadxea dug her heel into the knot of the tree and pushed herself higher, grabbing branch after branch. Satisfied with the height, she swung herself into the trunk and crouched low. The leaves would shade her, of that she was certain. But how long until it was noticed that she was missing; that was left to the Fates. She smiled; every culture had their own gods, their own beliefs, and even whil she lived in a foreign land, Jadxea's mother had never forgotten her own. The Fates were something that rolled pleasingly off the tongue when in need of a scapegoat; they were the only explanation for tragedy that wouldn't argue back... nothing more. Still, Jadxea had picked up the phrase, to the taunts of many of her friends, and cherished it like the rescue of an abandoned animal.

Jadxea shifted and cursed herself as she did so. If the scuffle of her boots were only slightly louder, she would be discovered. Sliding her feet out from under her, Jadxea balanced herself on the branch, her back against the tree trunk. She gazed down to the clearing, hardly ten feet from the tree. The blonde-haired woman she sought turned in her bedroll, and reached for something, or someone, who wasn't there. Jadxea studied the familiar face from her vantage point. She was dreaming, far away from any thoughts that something was amiss.

Good.

Jadxea climbed to her feet and swung herself higher still. A better view was imparative.

_"You seek me every night in your dreams, and yet, when I appear you seem suprised."_

_ "Every time I see you, I pray to every god I can name that you're real; flesh that I can touch once again."_

_ "One day, my dear friend. You know as well as I... we will meet again in the flesh."_

_ "Someday... hopefully... __if__ we find each other."_

_ "We will! Trust me!"_

_ "Small comfort to me. The promise of one day, of souls and reincarnations... it doesn't cure my lonliness... the loss that I still grieve."_

_ "You have never lost me. I will never leave you. Not even-"_

_ "In death. You speak in echoes. Somehow I know in my heart that you are nothing more than an echo. You are the dim reminants of a life I pleaded for so long ago."_

_ " 'Take me with you!', you pleaded of me."_

_ "And you obliged."_

_ "Reluctantly."_

_ "I will never repay you. You gave me life!"_

_ "A painful one. Full of loss and heartache."_

_ "Better than remaining and suffocating. You gave me just what I asked for; the world!"_

_ "But was it wise?"_

_ "Of course not. But the heart never is. You couldn't leave me. We are a part of each other. We both knew that, somewhere inside of us, we were meant for each other. You couldn't just... leave me."_

_ "And I never have."_

_ "Big talk from the one who doesn't have to wake from this dream. You will be gone... and I will remain... alone."_

_ "You're not alone."_

_ Lips pressed against each other, familiar and warm. Comfort; great swirling colors of comfort. Unyeilding, undying love._

_ "Find me..."_

"Xena!" Gabrielle bolted from her blankets, the name second nature on her lips. There was hardly a morning now that didn't begin with the fallen warrior's name.

Gabrielle breathed, slowing her heartrate. This dream had gripped her many times. It was rare that she did not dream of Xena. But it was that parting plea that always haunted her; "find me...". Hours were spent attempting to interpret the urgent message that broke through only at the moment Gabrielle felt the deepest love for her lost companion.

But now was not the time for such examinations. Something wasn't right. Gabrielle shifted her head and listened hard. It was obvious that she was being watched, but from where? She had never been as good at pin-pointing the predator as Xena. Even some of her Amazon sisters had surpassed the abilities taught to her, or they had the last she saw of them.

The wind blew at her, pressing against her back, pushing her hair into her face. Gabrielle raised her head, examining the space in the corner of her eye. Of course the mighty tree behind her would be the perfect shelter. Gabrielle crouched slowly, carefully drawing her sais from their harnesses. The rustle of leaves and the intake of breath carried on the wind was all that she needed.

Gabrielle spun and flung one sai at the tree. A yelp greeted her from the leaves and she regarded it's source with a sharp, fixed gaze.

"No!" a voice cried. "It's just me!"

"Jadxea?" Gabrielle, wide-eyed and panicked, bolted for the tree.

As she reached it, a dark-haired child swung from a lower branch. Her ankles and hands locked around the branch and she hung there, upside down, as if one trussed for a ready fire. She held the hilt of the sai between her teeth, and offered it to Gabrielle with as much of a grin as she can manage.

"What were you thinking?" Gabrielle scolded, taking the weapon from her. "I could have killed you! What were you doing up there?"

"Nothing," Jadxea shrugged vaguely. "I watched the sun rise. Just wondering how long it would take for you to find me."

"How many times have I told you; that is not a game that you play when I don't know you've begun it."

"You found me faster today!" Jadxea squealed in delight.

"I'm familiar with the terrain. I was trained on this soil." Gabrielle sheathed her weapons and folded her arms.

"You wouldn't have found me if I hadn't gotten excited. Or..." she unlocked her ankles, hanging from the branch, then dropped to the ground with a wince, "if I had moved faster."

"Jadxea," Gabrielle admonished, catching a glimpse of the clean slice of flesh torn away by the sai. Immediately, she wrapped the young girl's arm around her neck, and held her up by the waist. "Come close to the fire. I'll stitch you up." She set the girl on her own bedroll and began digging in her saddlebag. "Stubborn," Gabrielle mumbled under her breath. "Stubborn and reckless!"

"Like my father!" Jadxea concluded proudly, pushing her dark hair out of her face.

"Yes," Gabrielle agreed with a dark look to the child. She knelt over the wound and began working. "And at the rate you're going, you'll leave the world the same way." She knotted a stitch and took a moment to stop, reaching up to the girl's face; a moment of tenderness amidst her frusteration and anger. "And I would not lose you like I lost him. Not while I can still breathe."

Jadxea lowered her eyes, an apology simply in the way she looked away. She felt the stitching resume. Quietly, Jadxea's eyes found their way to her savior's face. "Mother, tell me about him."

Gabrielle smiled, her work never halting. "Why don't you tell me? You probibly know more than I do by now."

"Please? Tell me a story?" A childish plea that Jadxea knew her mother couldn't deny her.

"He was a great warrior. Such that the world had never known. And though he spent much of his time fighting, he fought for the preservation of peace."

"And the first time you saw him..." the girl prompted.

"It was as if I had known him forever. I knew I couldn't let him get away."

"And then you saved him, even without combat skills!"

"Especially without combat skills." Gabrielle tied off the last stitch and rolled to sit beside her daughter. "I kept him safe without the aid of weapons and that was what convinced him of my sincerity."

Jadxea tucked into Gabrielle's arms and gazed off into the foreign feild, as if her father would come from behind the rolling hills and into their waiting arms. "His eyes?"

"Blue," Gabrielle breathed, her heart lightened by the admiration shining in her daughter's face at the mention of her fallen lover. "So blue that they matched the sky on a cleaar day. His hair was like a raven bathed in the sun. And so strong... in every sense of the word."

Mother and daughter stared out at the field before them, lost in memories and fantasies. A seagull overhead broke their revery and Gabrielle shook her head to clear it.

"Can you walk, little one?" The girl replied with a determined single nod. Gabrielle stifled a chuckle. Her child would do anything to prove herself just as strong as her parents. "All right, pack up! We can't lose daylight. It's been many years. Some landmarks are bound to have changed."

Quickly, determined to conceal discomfort, Jadxea began rolling up her blankets and packing them onto her pony's saddle. Her mother moved with twice her speed, not just because she lacked injury. Her mother had always been faster, her father had trained her so. Jadxea had attempted to race her so many times, but her mother assured her that it simply came with time and practice.

The area cleared, and cool sand spilled over the smoldering coals, Gabrielle pulled herself atop her brown mare. The small Palimino pony that her daughter favored and had won for her own, shifted, impatiently waiting for her little mistress to mount. Gabrielle took the pony's reins to still her while Jadxea found balance with her weak leg.

Finally in the saddle, Jadxea sheepishly met her mother's eyes. "I'm sorry, mother. No more training without you knowing first."

Gabrielle smiled. The child had learned her lesson well enough and harsh words were hardly necessary now. Instead, Gabrielle released the pony's reins. "You should train Kepi instead of worrying about your own training. She's very loyal to you. You could probibly teach her quite a bit."

"Like you trained Danae!" Jadxea gleefully made the comparission her mother's coveted brown mare.

"And as your father trained his horse. Kepi is very similar to your father's horse. I'll bet she'll learn just as fast."

This information bolstered the girl's determination and eagerness. "One day I'll be as great as he was!" she assured as the horses trodded through the trees and into the forest.

"Well, I'll tell you this, Xea," her smile was sincere, but her eyes were solemn and serious, "he wouldn't have wanted to see you become a warrior."

"You keep saying that..." Jadxea rolled her eyes.

"Duck," Gabrielle warned, dipping her head under a branch. Jadxea nearly caught the lower branch, dodging it just in time. "You're not used to the forest, Jadxea. Keep your eyes open."

"See! That's what I mean! You teach me the reflexes of a warrior, why not the skill?"

"I teach you how to survive, Jadxea. It will be a cold day in Tartarus when I put a weapon in your hand." As if second nature, Gabrielle reached back and took the pony's reins close to the halter, clicking her tongue in a command. "Stay close to me. I don't know how friendly this forest is after these years."

"Mother? How old were you when you met Father?" Jadxea's eyes roamed the trees. The morning excurtion left her hungry for more, despite the stinging ache in her leg.

"Much older than you. So stop trying to play that angle." Gabrielle led them over a small hill and around a tight cluster of trees. They were either a perfect hiding place, or the perfect trap.

"Where do you suppose he is now? Heaven? The Illesian Fields? Aaru?"

"All names for basically the same thing, Xea. Your father's soul is at peace. That's all that matters." Gabrielled steeled herself. the details of that day flashed back at her, as they always did when mentioned, and she gripped Danae's reins tighter. The mare snorted her disapproval, but never waivered in her path.

"Do I look like him? Do you think they'll recognize me in..."

"Jadxea!" Gabrielle hissed suddenly, halting both horses. "Do exactly as I say," she whispered. She slowly pulled the pony beside her own horse, her eyes fixed on their surroundings, her ears keen to the sounds of the forest. "Climb on behind me," Gabrielle whispered, reaching to pull her child from the saddle.

"But... Kepi..." Jadxea looked between her mother and her horse.

"Do as I say!" Gabrielle snapped. The girl immediately hopped on behind her mother and clung tight to the beaded deerskin that wrapped tightly around her mother's ribs. "Stay as quiet as you can, and wait for my instruction." She felt Jadxea nod against her back, and, slowly, she urged Danae forward, pulling Kepi behind her.

A feather covered arrow landed in Danae's path, and Gabrielle held the reins tight to still her. Then another arrow, then three, then five more, until the horses were surrounded and the two mounted were trapped. "Jadxea," Gabrielle comanded frantically, "do exactly as I do!" And with that, she clasped her hands above her head in gesture. she checked back to be sure the girl had done the same, and then watched the trees closely.

True enough, a horde of women, clad in beaded deerskin, descended on rope from their treetop hiding places. Falling in a specific formation, their bows at the ready, and arrows aiming true. Despite seeing this woman not only dressed similarly, but giving them the signal of peace, the women agressively watched the intruders, begging for an excuse to shoot.

"What is your tribe?" Demanded one woman, standing center, only slightly protected by two other women flanking her. Gabrielle took note of her complex outfit, and the beaded necklace that fell heavily against her chest.

"I am Queen Gabrielle of the Athens tribe in the eastern valley," Gabrielle delivered officially. She felt Jadxea shift behind her and prayed the girl would keep silent... just this once.

"You lie!" the woman accused and the others puled their arrows tighter. "Queen Gabrielle died years ago. She took her own life as she left Athens."

"She tried," Gabrielle granted darkly. "She failed." Slowly, keeping her eyes on the women as they held hers, she slipped her hand into her saddlebag and pulled out a necklace similar to that of the warrior who spoke. She tossed it at their feet.

The woman did not make a move to claim it, she only glanced at the royal design and unique beading. "That proves nothing," she challenged.

"Your queen," Gabrielle maintained her authoritative voice, "she will know me."

"You beg an audience with the queen who will claim your head from your tiny shoulders when she's realized that you've stolen from and disgraced the great Queen Gabrielle?" the woman sneered.

Jadxea's arms, newly snaked around her mother, squeezed tighter in fear. Gabrielle breathed deeply, expanding her ribs and loosening her daughter's grip. "No. I request an audience with my sister Amazon."

"And if this is an attack...?" the Amazon observed Gabrielle closely. "I would be taking you in... to our queen. If you attack her..."

"I have no reason to attack. I have no quarrel with your tribe. And," she leaned in the saddle, revealing Jadxea, "I have my child with me. We mean no harm."

After a moment's hesitation, the Amazon gave a signal and the warrior lowered their weapons. Gabrielle nodded her appreciation, swinging her leg over and sliding off of her mare. She reached up and helped Jadxea down as well, missing the additional signal the Amazon Princess gave her warriors. By the time Jadxea's boots met the soft earth, two Amazons took the girl's arms and pulled her from Gabrielle's reach.

Immediately, Gabrielle retrieved her sais, and held them at the ready. "She's a child," she pleaded with steel and fire in her voice.

"Mother..." Jadxea whined, attempting to twist her wrists from the oppressive grip.

"She poses no threat!" Gabrielle implored.

"She's right!" Jadxea piped up. "She won't even teach me how to punch properly!"

"The pup remains in our care until your identity is revealed. These are dangerous grounds. We trust no one," the Amazon Princess proclaimed.

"All right," Gabrielle attempted to not look like she was swallowing her heart back down into her chest. "You keep her safe for now."

"What?" That girl attempted to charge at her mother, but was thwarted.

"Jadxea..." Gabrielle warned, her eyes locked with the young princess, "trust me. They'll care for you. Be brave." She took Danae's reins, and tossed Kepi's at one of the Amazons guarding her daughter. She stepped up to the princess and held her hand out in a friendly gesture. "Your name?"

"Larya," the princess replied, not taking Gabrielle's hand.

Gabrielle smirked. This would not be easy. Coming home never had been. Even coming back to the Amazons.

Jadxea trudged along the rocky winding path, keeping her eyes on her mother constantly. She was walking ahead with the leader Amazon. Why hadn't she said anything about the Amazons before? That necklace she had thrown; Jadxea used to play with it, pretending she was a princess. How could her mother never tell her that it actually had been a symbol of royalty?

As she considered it, Jadxea realized that there had been signs. Her favorite lullaby when she was little had been about an Amazon child. Though she occationally conformed, her mother always prefered the soft deerskin costumes she carried with her, to the sheer wrappings of the Pharoh's Lands. And so many of the bedtime stories her mother had told her had been about a tribe of women in a forest in some distant country, learning and fighting for their lands. Had those stories been true? Were these her mother's experiences before she was born? She knew so little of her mother's past.

Something caught Jadxea's foot and she tripped forward. A strong arm caught hers and steadied her.

"You okay?" the voice was quite youthful, and when Jadxea looked up, the Amazon couldn't have been more than a few years older than herself.

"Yeah... thanks." Jadxea smiled and kept moving, making a mental note of keeping an eye on the terrain.

"I'm Terreis," the girl introduced herself conversationally.

"Jadxea," she answered enthustically. Walking in silence was starting to get to her.

"You're not from here, are you?" Terreis, Jadxea noticed, had been the one to take her pony's reins. She shook her head, reaching out and patting her horse. "You don't seem like it. You're a little too dark for a Greek."

"I grew up in the land of the Pharohs, south of here. But my mother is Greek," Jadxea chatted. Talking made her feel much more comfortable, being seperated from Gabrielle.

"I was born and raised here. In this very tribe," Terreis offered.

"Really? What's it like? To be an Amazon, I mean!" Jadxea nearly skipped to keep up, and her leg was really beginning to ache, but she was too excited to take much note of it.

"Well," Terreis sighed and gazed ahead of them, "you should know... if your mother is who she says she is."

Jadxea pursed her lips and looked toward her mother. She was speaking to the Amazon who lead them. Jadxea could tell it wasn't like the casual, light conversation she was having, but there was something about her mother's ease. The ease in her step, in her body, in the way she had spoken before. It wasa a comfort that Jadxea had never seen in her before.

"Tell me about Queen Gabrielle?" Jadxea asked of her new friend. "Was she well known?"

"With the Amazons. She was a great leader. She spoke of fairness. Never one to immediately set her mind to war, like many Amazons tend to. She believed in tradition, but only for the benefit of the tribe. She taught us the value of negotiation, not sacrifice and slaughter." Terreis smiled down at her little friend. "Does that sound like your mother?"

Jadxea shrugged. "How did she die?"

"We're told that Queen Gabrielle was a traveller. But she came to see us once more before her death. They say that she came for the ceremony of the equinox, and while most of the tribe slept the day after, she left to take her own life. No one knows by what means, though.

"Why would she do that?" Jadxea watched her mother disappear behind the hill ahead of them.

"We were never told, but," Terreis' voice lowered, making Jadxea strain to hear her, "I remember that festival. I wasa a little girl. Children aren't allowed to participate in the festival of the equinox until they come of age but, sometimes they find a place to hide and watch. I fell asleep against a hut and my friends left me there. I woke up as the sun hit me and i recognized the queen by her mask from the ceremony. She was standing over me, watching me. She took my hand and walked me to my hut, and she told me about having a daughter of her own once. I watched her go into the forest. But, I remember her taking the mask off, and all of this beautiful golden hair suddenly falling around her shoulders." Terreis looked ahead of them, and then back at her little friend. "For the record, I believe your mother is Queen Gabrielle."

Jadxea's mind was racing. Not only wasa her mother an Amazon queen, but she had tried to kill herself once. This had to have happened before Jadxea was born. She had always said that Jadxea was her reason for living. And, 'she had a daughter of her own once'. What did that mean?

Soon they arrived at the Amazon village and if they had turned Jadxea away, she wouldn't have been able to find her way back. She had been so lost in her thoughts that she didn't remember half of her process of travelling. However, as she followed Terreis past the eyes of curious Amazons, Jadxea's leg began throbbing from the ache. Far ahead of them, her mother wasa entering a hut, and Jadxea stepped forward to cry out to her. Instead, the small amount of pressure on her leg was enough to collapse her and she gripped her pony's mane for support.

"Jadxea?" Terreis wasa immediately there, with her shoulder under the girl's arm to take pressure off of the horse.

"I'm fine," Jadxea insisted, wishing that she could believe it.

But Terreis found the injury on her leg and immediately took the girl's weight on her. "You should have ridden the horse here." She smirked at the girl, "Even warriors have to heal."


	2. Chapter 2

Gabrielle glanced back and found Jadxea following, and chatting with, a young Amazon not much older than her. She chastized herself for not telling her daughter about herself sooner. But had she ever reaally planned on telling her?

The young princess had gone into the hut before her, to announce her, she'd said. Really, she was making sure that her queen would even consider seeing her, as the princess doubted she would. Gabrielle debated whether or not to be upset about the lack of respect shown to a high queen. There was no reason for it, ultimately. She had intended to abandon the title years ago. It was just a convenience, a safe haven, now. It meant little to her anymore.

The deerskin door wasa pulled aside, and the young princess stood inside with an untrusting, defiant face. "The queen will see you." The declaration wasa forced through gritted teeth.

Gabrielle smirked, knowing that the Amazon would be mortified once it was revealled that she wasn't lying. Disrespect to a queen was never tolerated, no matter your rank. Still, she wasn't sure if she should insist on punishment for the young princess. Gabrielle stepped carefully into the hut, barely hearing a cry escape from her child before the deerskin hide waas released behind her, blocking out the world.

"Well... it is you," a voice emerged from the darkness of the hut. "I never thought I'd see Queen Gabrielle again."

Gabrielle smiled. "Neither did I." Her eyes had enough time to adjust to the lack of light just as the queen stepped close to her. Gabrielle's smile broadened at the sweet blonde woman, no taller than herself. "Cyane."

Cyane immediately embraced Gabrielle fiercely. "I was so sure, we were all sure, that we'd never see you again."

Gabrielle tensed ever-so-slightly in her arms and crried on. "So, you're high queen now?"

Cyane finally released her, her beaming face taking in every inch of her friend, her sister. "Oh, no. We all care for the tribe. I just happened to be the only one on the counsel who actually believed you might have come back to us."

"Nothing is permenant," Gabrielle took a step back, catching a glimpse of fear and awe in the young princess' face behind Cyane.

It was as if Cyane had never heard her. An arm wrapped around her waist and pulled her into the extension on the back of the hut. "Where have you been? No one is going to believe you're actually alive! Larya, put together some food for Queen Gabrielle! You must be starving. We'll have to have a celebration for your return. Larya, don't gape at her, go and get some bread and fruit! Tell me where you've been!"

Gabrielle emerged back into daylight, the sun at it's highest point, dressed in the beads and feathers denoting a queen. She had resisted the privilage at first, but remembered the distrust in the Amazons' eyes when she was without the markings. The necklace hung heavy around her neck, the weight of it something of a comfort. It was a reminder of a simpler time; a time that she needed only to wait a few moments before she could turn and find Xena riding Argo into the village.

Gabrielle adjusted the engraved armband and tossed her elaborately braided hair off of her shoulders. The Amazons scattered through the village were whispering, pointing and staring. She took a deep breath and began scanning the faces for her daughter, or someone who would know where she was taken.

She finally found a lanky, dark little girl, perched on a barrel, her leg bandaged, captivated by the battle in front of her. Two young women, obviously still in training, were sparring with staffs. They were going fairly slow and methodically for their ability, as if they were marking it out. Suddenly, the Amazon closest to Jadxea turned to her. The girl, with all her enthusiasm, hopped off the barrel, and the Amazon tossed her the staff.

Gabrielle immediately charged at them, and the entire village seemed to part down the center for her. "Jadxea! Jadxea!" She reached them just as the girl had squared off with the Amazon. The two young women immediately dropped to their knees at the sight of her, their heads bent in respect.

Jadxea was frozen, staff at the ready, surveying all of the grown women who had dropped to their knees at the sound of her mother's enraged voice, and all those farther away who had stopped and dropped their heads in respect. Her eyes finally made it back to her mother who was clad in beautiful, elaborate deerskin; designs and emblems that she'd never seen before, but obviously meant something.

Gabrielle seized the staff from the little girl's hands, "What were you thinking?"

Jadxea only gaped at her mother. Something was so different about her. She knew her mother to be strong enough to command an audience, she knew she'd once been a travelling bard. But this was a power that she'd never seen before. The strongest women Jadxea had ever seen simply fell at her mother's feet without question. She was compelled to do the same.

When Jadxea seemed unable to answer, Gabrielle bi-passed her completely and began glaring at the two Amazons. "Who's idea was this?"

The woman to her left barely lifted her head to speak. "Apologies, my queen."

"Stand up," Gabrielle commanded. "Both of you."

Jadxea watched, shocked and amazed when both women did as she bid, their eyes ever lowered.

"How did this begin?" Gabrielle demanded of the woman on her left.

"The little princess requested a demonstration. I offered the lesson, my queen," the young woman's voice shook.

"Let me make two things very clear, and I want both of you to let this spread through the tribe. My daughter does not fight. Ever. And while she is Amazon by birth, she does not carry my rite of caste, and should only be seen as a sister in the tribe. Am I clear?"

"Yes, my queen," the women mumbled simultaneously.

"You," Gabrielle turned to the one on her left, "you cared for Jadxea on the journey. I'd like to thank you." She held out her hand to the woman who tentatively raised her eyes to meet the Queen of the Amazons'.

The young woman gripped Gabrielle's forearm near the elbow in a gesture of trust. She was swallowing hard out of fear and excitement.

"What's your name?" Gabrielle asked, a little gentler now.

"Terreis," the young Amazon answered timidly.

A look of suprise passed across Gabrielle's face, but she quickly replaced it with a smile. "A good name. I was given my rite of caste by a Terreis... many years ago."

Terreis beamed, blushing lightly. "I know."

"Terreis, would you be kind enough to find Jadxea appropriate clothing? Something that will help her blend into the tribe better than her Egyptian wraps?"

"Certainly, my queen!" Terreis lowered her head quickly, and then sprinted through the village.

Gabrielle put an arm around Jadxea and led her away from the village center, watching the young Amazons trying not to let their curious eyes roam. They ducked into a vacant hut, and as soon as they were out of sight, Gabrielle heard the square begin to bussel with whispers and excitement. She found their packs that had already been delivered to the hut, and pulled her abandoned sais out, strapping them back into her boots. She glanced at Jadxea, who was stock-still in front of the entrance. "Since when were you so quiet?" Gabrielle found bread and cheese left for them, and set it on the little table in the corner. "Xea... you should eat."

But the child was frozen, trying desperately to regain her tongue. She couldn't move if she'd wanted to. An overload of information had been dumped onto her, and processing it was taking up all of her focus.

Gabrielle sighed and took the girl's shoulders, steering her and depositing her at the table. She placed herself on the opposite side and caught her child's eyes. "Just ask."

Jadxea opened her mouth, but closed it. Where to begin in this myriad of secrets? She reached a tentative hand up and broke off a piece of bread. It was in her mouth before she ever organized her thoughts. She swallowed the soft bread. "You're a queen."

"An Amazon queen, yes. And I have been for many, many years. Long before you were born." Gabrielle observed her daughter to gage her reactions.

"But you were a bard. You said you were a bard," Jadxea shook her head as if everything would then fall into place.

"I was. I never lied to you. I was never required to stay with the tribe. I travelled. It's how I became an Amazon in the first place."

"So... I'm an Amazon princess," Jadxea was starting to see a fairytale emerge from her life.

"No," Gabrielle's tone clamped down on that starry-eyed look. "You remember me telling you about Eve?"

"That I should think of her as my sister." It was clear that Jadxea never knew why this was.

"Yes. Eve took my rite of caste soon after she was born. She is an Amazon princess. the tribe will see you as a sister, but you won't take my place when I'm gone." Gabrielle explained methodically and precisely.

"Is... is Eve your daaughter? The one you had before me?"

Gabrielle immediately tensed and watched Jadxea closely. "Who told you that?"

"Terreis," Jadxea was almost afraid to speak now. "She said that you had a daughter once before."

Gabrielle hesitated. She didn't expect to encounter this question, and it was much too complicated and painful to tackle today. But there were to be no more lies of secrets now. "Eve is not my daughter by birth, but I helped bring her into the world. I would comfort her when she cried. I adopted her in a sense. I loved her as I love you." Gabrielle looked away, seeing an angelic baby's face, crowned with golden hair, in her mind. "The child I had before you... is dead. i don't talk about her. I try not to think about her."

"What was her name?" Jadxea's level blue eyes searched her mother's face.

"I just said," Gabrielle left the table swiftly, grabbing her pack, "I don't talk about her."

"She's my sister!" Jadxea argued, angry now that her mother was denying her this answer. "I want to know!"

She's not your sister, Jadxea!" Gabrielle yelled at her, unable to stop the violent passion errupting in her. "Just stop! If you want a sister to cling to, I'll tell you about Eve again! Pick anyone in this tribe, they are your sisters! She..." a breath for control, "she was not your sister."

Jadxea looked away, angry and hurt. She heard Gabrielle sit on the bed and open her pack. Jadxeaa glanced back quickly at her, but turned her focus to her food again. She wanted one more question answered before she decided never to speak to her mother again.

In a nearly silent voice, Jadxea said, "You tried to kill yourself."

There was a pause thaat was almost audible. Gabrielle dropped her elbows onto her knees and let her forehead rest against her palms. "I thought about it," she finally admitted. "It would have been so easy. But then... I thought of... your father. And someone else; a man who had shown me a way of life, of love, a long time ago. I couldn't bear the thought of dishonoring either of their memories by simply giving up. So... I went to a spot in the woods near here, and I tore my clothes and left them scattered in a path to the cliffs. I made it seem as if I jumped, or was attacked and pushed. I really didn't care which. I killed Gabrielle, Queen of the Amazons, Battling Bard of Potedia..." her voice choked in her throat for a moment and Jadxea nearly turned to look at her. "I went far away. I went to Egypt," Gabrielle breathed heavily. "I never wanted to face Greece... these people, any of it ever again."

There was quiet for a moment as the words seemed to sink into the room and cling to the walls. The stillness was unsettling, but neither mother or daughter flinched from it.

Precisely and slowly, Jadxea turned from her food and faced her mother. "So... why are we here?"

"Because," Gabrielle looked up and smiled at her child with tears in her eyes, "I need to find an old friend."

She hated that feeling. It was dread, like a rock in the pit of her stomach. She often had the feeling when she thought of going back to her homeland. But now she was actually doing it and the feeling was becoming unbearable.

Eve reached down and pulled a bit of bread out of her saddlebag. It wasa dry and bland, but she was hoping it would settle her stomach. The horse she rode trudged lazily forward, but she didn't push him. The terrain was new to him and, although she wasa on a mission, she was in no hurry to get to her destination.

Greece was different than Rome; seemingly untouched... beautiful. Even still, being so close to the place she grew up, the person she used to be... it unsettled her. She imagined hundreds of angry farmers and artisans emerging from the surrounding foliage, accusing her of murder.

Eve chewed the bread but it made her feel worse. She hadn't eaten breakfast so she forced herself to swallow, but it was all she could manage. Her one remaining comfort in this land that was now foreign to her, wasa the Amazon village, not far from where she now stopped her horse to water him.

The Amazons had forgiven and taken her back into their tribe many years ago, before she went far East. But that was many years ago. She just hoped there were a few Amazons still among the village who remembered her. Or at least remembered her mother.

The wind blew, and Eve readjusted her sarri on her shoulder, securing it as best she could. But as she tilted her head, she swore she heard a woman call out to her.

"Eve!" the wind sang.

"Mother?" Eve called out and circled, examining her surroundings.

She had only recieved the news of her mother's death five years ago, although the young monk from Japa had insisted that the great Xena: Warrior Princess had been dead at least five years before then. Eve had mourned for a year. She considered finding Gabrielle... how devistated she must have been. The love her mother and Gabrielle shared had been the strongest and purest Eve had ever seen. It nearly surpassed the love she and her mother themselves had shared. But, Eve had decided to leave Gabrielle alone. Something inside her warned that her 'Aunt Gabrielle' would be in heavy mourning, and in no condition to see the flesh and blood reminder of Xena.

For all Eve knew, Gabrielle could be in heaven herself by now. It wouldn't suprise her if the poor woman had taken her own life. Eve couldn't imagine Gabrielle without Xena by her side. How could Gabrielle be expected to? Eve hoped that she would somehow know if Gabrielle had left the world; if she lost her only living link to her family. But, she hadn't known when her mother died, so it was unlikely that the universe would oblige for Gabrielle.

Eve listened hard, but the wind had quieted and the voice was gone. She took the horse's reins and led him away from the river and back onto the path.

She would reach the Amazon village by nightfall at the latest.


	3. Chapter 3

"You're going to visit Xena, then?" Cyane inquired gently, and bit into a piece of chicken.

"Shh," Gabrielle warned, watching Jadxea laugh with Terreis beside a distant firepit. Her child looked so comfortable here. Gabrielle had never been an Amazon by birth. she learned the ways of the tribe slowly. But Jadxea... all of this seemed so second nature to her. Gabrielle was baffled by how she managed it.

"She won't hear us," Cyane rolled her eyes. She handed her friend a plate of food and attempted to search her face. "Gabrielle? You can't leave her here, if that's what you're thinking. She needs you."

Gabrielle's weak smile made it's way to Cyane as she tore her gaze away from the girl. "I've considered it. She's a natural! But..." she glanced at her untouched food, "I've grown too attached to her."

"You told me once that after your first child you couldn't bear the thought of having another," Cyane leaned close. She had only a vague knowledge of Gabrielle's life before, and not many others even had that. "You've finally let yourself be the mother you always wanted to be."

"Maybe," Gabrielle smiled at the dark girl who watched the Amazons in awe and wonder. "She scares me sometimes, though."

"Why?" Cyane looked at the girl, examining her for some defect. But Gabrielle grew very quiet, and strangely engrossed in her dinner. Cyane took the hint, but decided to touch a different issue. "Just out of curiosity, who is her father?"

Gabrielle paused, and then grinned. She set her plate of food beside Cyane as she climbed to her feet. "I'm tired of talking about her father. Ask Jadxea about him."

Gabrielle left Cyane a little bewildered. But she hadn't quite made it to her hut when there were shouts from the sentries and guards. Someone was approaching on horseback, a lone rider. A few warriors scattered to fetch their weapons, Terreis among them, leaving Jadxea nervous and disoriented by the fire pit. Gabrielle immediately raced to her daughter.

"Jadxea!" Gabrielle took hold of her child's arm when she came within reach. "Go to the hut! Don't come out until I call you! Go!" That was a small surge of relief and pride when the girl gave no hesitation or arguement. She simply bolted for the little hut, and Gabrielle made her way to the entrance of the village.

Eve could see the village torches ahead of her, and she wasa sure they could see her as well. There was too much movement for them to not be alerted to her presence. Still, she rode steadily, calmly onward. She had no weapons and as long as she didn't rush towards them, they wouldn't see her as a threat.

As she got close enough that the lines of warriors appeared in her vision, Eve gripped the horse with her legs and clasped her hands in the symbol of peace. The warriors didn't lower their weapons, which only saddened Eve. Their safety in these woods must be deteriorating. They trust no one.

As she drew close, she saw the row of queens waiting for her, with warriors staggered within to protect them. The women seemed so dark, so much more full of distrust and anger than she remembered.

"Stop there!" one queen commanded.

Eve lowered her hands slowly and gripped the reins to still her horse.

"What do you want?" the voice didn't seem to belong to anyone... it seemed to belong to all of them.

"I seek only shelter," Eve's voice shook slightly. "I am Eve. I am of your tribe... I think. Does Queen Varia live among you?"

"Dead. For three moons now," the voice of the queens replied.

"I am sorry," Eve bowed her head and made a mental reminder to mourn her. "I am of her tribe." The women shifted, pulling their bows tighter. She took a breath and used her only bargaining chip. "Xena, the Warrior Princess was my mother." There were murmers among them, but the weapons weren't lowered. There was, however, a sudden commotion from the back of the crowd. Eve worried that they were getting too excited to begin an attack so she pressed on. "I carry the rite of caste of Queen Gabrielle of..."

"Put your weapons down!" a voice ordered from the middle of the crowd. And, like a wave, the warriors parted and bowed, their weapons lowered, allowing the great queen passage to the front lines.

Eve's heart was in her throat, and she breathed hard, as she watched a small figure make her way through the little army. Her steady footsteps triggered a memory and Eve began crying. Sure enough, a head of strawberry-blonde hair was litl by the torches, and the face it lined was Gabrielle's.

Eve was shaking so had that she thought she'd fall as she climbed down from her horse. She held onto the saddle still, even when her feet were on solid ground, to be sure her knees wouldn't give out. Slowly, this woman, this little blonde thing, the great Queen of the Amazons, the only family Eve had left, stepped close and reached a shaking hand out to touch Eve's dark, waivy hair.

Eve smiled through her tears and laughed a little. "Hi, Aunt Gabby."

That seemed to solidify it for Gabrielle. Eve was suddenly pulled into a tight hug as both women laughed and sobbed. The warriors, the torches, the Amazon village, all of Greece seemed to melt away as the women held each other again after so many years.

They finally released each other, still crying and still keeping a hold of their hands, almost refusing to lose the physical connection.

Gabrielle laughed, or sobbed, it all seemed the same, as she reached up and brushed Eve's tear away with her thumb. "Look at how you've grown!"

Eve laughed and reached up to stroke Gabrielle's blonde locks. "Your hair got so long!"

They laughed and gasped for air, trying to stop their tears. Finally, Gabrielle took control and faced the Amazons with an arm wrapped around Eve's waist. "Sisters, it's all right! This is Eve, your princess!"

The Amazons had needed no explanation. Once the women had begun crying and hugging, their weapons had been stowed away, and some had even gone back to their meal. The queens remained to welcome Eve, which they did in turn, and as they went back to their tasks, they smiled to see Queen Gabrielle so happy.

"Talk about a welcome home!" Eve laughed, a bit overwhelmed by the attention from the queens.

"Wait," Gabrielle grinned, walking her through the center of the village, "there's someone you have to meet!" Gabrielle then called out, "Jadxea! Jadxea, it's safe!"

A head of sleek black hair emerged from the hut, followed by the slight body of a girl in fitted Amazon clothing. The girl searched the faces until she found Gabrielle and ran as fast as she could to meet her. The girl, Jadxea, stood in front of them, her bright blue eyes examining both of them, waiting for an explanation.

Gabrielle set a hand on the girl's little shoulder. "You wanted a sister... Jadxea, meet Eve. Eve, this is my daughter, Jadxea."

Eve looked back and forth between Jadxea and Gabrielle in amazement. Finally her eyes were fixed on the little girl. This child, with light eyes and dark hair, so similar to her own, truely could be her sister. It shocked her in a way that warmed her heart at the sight of this girl, staring up at her in wonder. "Well... hi! It's so good to meet you, sister!"

Jadxea could only gape at Eve. She finally smiled and studdered out, "I... it... it's nice to meet you too!" Jadxea was quickly pulled into a warm embrace, and she clung there for as long as Eve would allow. It was as if the two had lost each other many years ago. It was like coming home. Like finding a missing piece of themselves. It was a comfort, a warmth, a sense of belonging they didn't even know they had been missing all these years.

It was a full minute before they parted and Eve kept an arm around Jadxea's shoulders as she strode alongside Gabrielle to the nearby fire. "If I had known you two had been here this whole time, I would have come back sooner."

"We haven't been here!" Jadxea piped up, wrapping her arm around Eve's waist, solely for closeness.

"We only arrived yesterday," Gabrielle explained. "I've been in Egypt for many years."

"Then you heard it too?" Eve stopped, excited and suddenly desperate for Gabrielle's attention.

"Heard what?" Gabrielle furrowed her brow and tilted her head.

"Mother! Mother, calling out for help! You're here to save her too!" Eve explained excitedly.

Gabrielle could only stare, amazed at the woman.

Jadxea looked between Eve and Gabrielle as if this fairytale just kept getting more and more exciting. "Is that true? Mother? Are we here to save someone? Can I help? Are they in Amphipolis? What are we gonna do? Can I help?"

"Eve," Gabrielle completely disregarded her daughter's barage of questions, "how do you know she's in trouble?"

"Just a feeling," Eve shrugged. "I keep hearing her call to me, though! It has to mean something!"

"You hear her?" Gabrielle watched her skeptically, not ready to reveal her private dreams yet.

"In the wind," Eve confirmed. "For some time now. Usually it's just her calling my name. Sometimes a song... a lullaby. I recognize it somehow."

Gabrielle paused as Eve demonstrated, humming a tune that Gabrielle soon put words to.

_"Hush now my little one_

_ Please don't you cry..."_

"That's it!" Eve exclaimed. "You know it."

"You used to sing that one to me sometimes!" Jadxea added excitedly.

"Your mother taught it to me," Gabrielle told Eve. "She made it up and used to sing you to sleep with it when you were a baby."

"I keep hearing it! It's her, Gabrielle! You know it! You've heard her too, haven't you?" Eve gripped Gabrielle's arms, but the other woman shrugged her off, fighting tears.

"I'm sorry, Eve. Your mother's gone. I'm sorry. I... I'm just here to pay respects." Gabrielle moved away, suddenly feeling suffocated.

"No," Eve pleaded, keeping close, and feeling Jadxea follow suit, "please, Gabrielle! Tell me! Tell me you've heard her!"

Gabrielle took a breath, staring into those familiar sky-blue eyes. Both Solan and Eve had inherited those soul peircing eyes. Even Jadxea would sometimes look just so. "I..." Gabrielle studdered, "I dream of her sometimes." A tear slipped passed her guard. "I dream of her."

Eve looked at Gabrielle with such sympathy, she might start crying again herself. "Oh Gabrielle," Eve reached for her, "it must have been so hard for you."

Gabrielle took a deep breath, backing away from Eve's arms, and blockading the rest of the tears that threatened her. Quickly, she looked to her child. "Jadxea, you should get to bed. It's late. We have a lot to do tomorrow."

Jadxea glanced between her mother and her new sister uneasily. But, she obeyed, knowing an argument would achieve nothing at the moment. She gave Eve one last hug and then moved past her mother, toward their hut.

Gabrielle slid her hand along her daaughter's hair lovingly as the child passed her. But, her eyes were downcast, preparing herself for Eve to chastize her for refusing to show love and loss in front of her child... or something else that she would know Eli to say. But instead, Eve's gentle voice broke through.

"She doesn't know, does she?" Eve asked, and smiled sympathetically as Gabrielle's shocked face met hers. "She doesn't know about Mother, does she?"

Gabrielle opened her mouth but quickly closed it, and looking away, embarrassed and ashamed. "You're welcome to stay with us." It was all she could get out before turning and following her daughter's path to the hut.

_Moisture dripped from their parting lips, and Gabrielle ran her hands along the red silk kimono as she lifted her head._

_ Please let it work! The Fountain of Strength was their only chance. Oh please let this work!_

_ Xena's body was still... lifeless. Gabrielle was beginning to panic. But slowly she stirred and her eyes blinked open heavily._

_ "Gabrielle?" Xena called hazily and smiled when she found her savior's face._

_ But a burst of energy soon overcame them and Xena reached up and grabbed the neck of Gabrielle's blue Japanese wrap. She pulled her close, the red silk of the kimono seeming to embrace both of them._

_ "Find me!" Xena choked out as Gabrielle reached for her._

"Xe-!" A hand clamed down on Gabrielle's mouth as her cry attempted to escape. With no hesitation, Gabrielle pulled a sai from under her pillow and aimed it at the throat of her captor.

"Sh!" a voice hissed. "It's okay! It's me! It's me!" Eve released her slowly as Gabrielle lowered her weapon, gasping for air. "It's okay," she soothed. "You were dreaming. It's okay."

Still struggling for air, Gabrielle twisted to see Eve staring down at her. Gabrielle's eyes were wide and fearful as she whispered, "Xena!"

Eve smiled softly, "The horses are already saddled."

Gabrielle nodded and pulled herself out of bed. She strapped the sais firmly into her boots, panic still tearing at her heart.

"What about Jadxea?" Eve watched the child toss in her adjacent bed.

"She stays. They'll take care of her here. I don't know what's become of Amphipolis since I left, but I don't want to risk it being as dangerous as the last time we found it," Gabrielle whispered. "I won't come back for her until I know it's safe."

"You heard her!" Eve whispered excitedly. "You heard her calling out, didn't you?"

"Yes," Gabrielle answered stoicly, her jaw set, focused on the bread and cheese she was wrapping up.

"What did she say?" Eve darted around her. She gripped her arms to try to capture her attention. "Please, tell me what she said, Gabrielle!"

Gabrielle paused for a moment and breathed. "Eve... what do you know of your mother's death?"

Eve quieted down. "I was told that some warlord in Japa beheaded her. I never believed it! My mother killed nearly all of the Olympian Gods. One warlord from Japa couldn't have stopped her! Why? What really happened?"

Gabrielle swallowed and turned to face her surrogate daughter. "A warlord from Japa beheaded her." Gabrielle's jaw set tight and her nostrils flared in hatred as Eve's eyes widened. "And then I killed him!"

Eve's mouth dropped open and her eyes watered. "Oh Gabrielle..."

"There's more," Gabrielle assured her. "I'll explain on the way." She snatched the pack of food and swiftly made her way out of the hut, mindful of her footsteps not waking little Jadxea.


	4. Chapter 4

Jadxea rolled under her blankets and squirmed. Her eyes opened slowly to the sight of an empty bed across from her. She shook her head to clear it of her sleepy haze. There was a vague recollection of her mother calling out in her sleep. That was nothing new. Jadxea had known her mother to talk in her sleep ever since she could remember. But still, something seemed out of place.

Jadxea squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head. She had dreamt. Nothing had been clear, or at least it wasn't now, but there was a farmhouse. Two women; one light, one dark, had been watching children playing around the porch. Four children who laughed and ran and screamed happily. Jadxea had been one of them... but she was much younger. There was a storm. The thunder had woken her up.

There was a flash of light outside the hut, followed by a clap of thunder. Jadxea pulled her blanket tighter around herself. The fact that her mother was nowhere nearby made her nervous. Storms didn't usually upset her, but something was different. Something was wrong.

"Jadxea?" a voice called out.

"Mother?" Jadxea bolted out of bed and made for the door.

But it was Terreis who passed through the animal skin curtain. She was drenched and red in the face. She held her hand out to Jadxea. "Come on! Come to my hut!"

Jadxea hesitated, a step back... what if her mother returned and panicked when she found that her child was gone? Terreis offered her hand again, an encouraging look in her eyes. Jadxea glanced around the empty hut once more before taking a tight hold of Terreis' hand and following her frantic race through the rain.

The pair panted once inside, laughing a bit from the adrenaline rush. Jadxea suddenly dissolved into giggles and Terreis examined herself, and the girl, closely, to find what wasa so funny. "I forgot my boots!" Jadxea gasped, revealing her mud-soaked feet. Terreis laughed and led her through the little hut.

"Here, we have a fire to dry your feet. You can borrow something of mine." Terreis sat the girl by the fire and disappeared into a joining room. "Mother? Mother, she's here!"

Jadxea hadn't considered Terreis having a mother. To her, Amazons seemed so other-worldly that they could sprout spontaneously from trees and Jadxea wouldn't question it.

Terreis returned a few minutes later and sat next to Jadxea. She dropped a sack between them and stared up at the roof with a sigh. "Your mother said she'd be back in a few days. You can stay here if you want."

"A few days?" Jadxea snapped at the young Amazon.

"She and the other woman left a few hours ago," Terreis confirmed. "She asked me to keep an eye on you." Terreis smiled, seeing the girl's mind race. "Hey... my mother's cooking isn't that bad."

Jadxea smiled, but turned back to the fire and sighed heavily. "I hate it when she does this!"

"Well... you're in luck," Terreis set the sack in front of Jadxea. "I found these a few years ago. Keep it quiet, though. No one knows that I have them."

Jadxea, curious and confused, pried open the drawstring and stared into the packed sack.

"Your mother must have left them here when she left us," Terreis smiled, watching her little friend reach inside to retrieve the prize.

Jadxea grasped one of the scrolls by it's end. As she pulled it out, the smell of the old parchment assaulted her. The edges were old; worn out and torn. There was writing where the rolled ends met.

"I've read them all a few times. I thought you'd like to have them, though." Terreis pulled a few more out, looking at each title in passing.

"I don't understand." Jadxea picked up a couple that Terreis had discarded on the floor.

"They're your mother's scrolls. When she was a bard," Terreis giggled when Jadxea's eyes grew wide and she gathered the abandoned scrolls onto her lap eagerly. "Here," Terreis offered her the one in her hand, "this is my favorite. The Greater Good. It's one of her best. You can see what a great leader she was, even when she was so young!"

There was so much admiration in Terreis' eyes that Jadxea found herself wondering if they were talking about the same person. She didn't doubt her mother's strength or ability, but for anyone else to see her as something of a hero was just strange. She'd experienced the same feeling when the Amazons had bowed to her the other day. Gabrielle was an admirable person, yes... but a person none-the-less.

With some trepidation, Jadxea unrolled The Greater Good and began reading, trying to ignore Terreis' excited fidgeting beside her. But after a few minutes of reading, she stopped and looked up at her friend, her brow furrowed.

"Who is Xena?"

"So... Mother sacrificed herself," Eve sighed. The fire crackled at her feet, and the heat crickets saang on under the night sky.

Gabrielle stared blankly into the fire. She proded it once or twice with a stick, but the fire wasa already strong, her attention did nothing but create sparks.

"She did the right thing," Eve commented reverently, her eyes downcast. But she looked up when Gabrielle threw the stick angrily into the fire. She watched the blonde woman get up and pace. "Gabrielle..." she knew the comforting voice would do nothing for her, but was compelled to try, "she did do the right thing."

"I should have stopped her!" Gabrielle mumbled to herself. "I should have known what she was going to do! I should have saved her!"

"Gabrielle..."

"Why couldn't she just tell me? We could have found another way! There's always another way!"

"There wasn't!" Eve tried to reason. "Mother knew that there was no other way. Don't blame yourself."

Gabrielle stopped pacing and spun to fave Eve, her face glowing with hatred in the firelight. "No... you're right, Eve," she admitted in an eerily calm voice. "Xena and I had no choice. Akemi took that choice away from her. Some selfish little girl in Japa used Xena. Told her she was her friend, and then used her! No thought to what might happen to Xena afterwards!" Gabrielle's voice was growing to such volume that she was nearly drowning out the crickets. "There was no consideration for her future, her soul! And now... this woman... my best friend, has been forced to sacrifice herself for a deed that could have been prevented by a vengeful little girl!"

"Gabrielle..."

"I loved her!" Gabrielle bent across the campfire and yelled at Eve. "_I_ loved her! And that girl took her from me!" Her tears fell freely and the campfire greedily swallowed them up. "You're right, Eve. I shouldn't blame myself. But the alternative means hating someone that my best friend loved. And even in death... I could never do that to her." She pulled herself upright and put her hands to her face, trying to stop the tears.

"She wouldn't want you to blame Akemi or yourself. She would tell you that the choice was hers to make." Eve wanted so much to hold, and be held by, Gabrielle. But the poor woman had something of a shield around her. No one could touch her. Eve guessed she'd been that way for a long time now. "My mother felt she had a debt to pay, and she needed to pay it the only way she could. She never blamed Akemi, and you shouldn't either."

"Eve," Gabrielle began darkly, drawing her hands down her face slowly, "your mother died to put 40 thousand souls at peace, and we are riding to Amphipolis because her soul isn't. By the Gods, I will blame someone for it!"

Gabrielle steered Danae along the path along so amazingly familiar to her. So many, many years ago, a little girl had begged a ride from a stranger in exchange for stories, just to follow a hero on her journey. That little girl had no idea how important that hero would become to her. The day that she laid in the middle of the road, praying to Hermes, she didn't know that she would one day become an Amazon leader, a follower of Eli. There was no way to know that she would become a warrior, or assist in the killing of the Greek Gods. That little girl didn't know what it was to have blood on her hands, to give birth to a child, to lose the person she loved beyond all measure. In a way, she missed little Gabrielle of Potedia. She regretted nothing of her life. If given a second chance, she would still follow Xena through everything. But as the road to Amphipolis wound to an end, Gabrielle felt fully the loss of her innocence for the first time. She wouldn't, couldn't cry for it... she had done that too many times in her life. But the impact of the emotions weighed down on her heaavily, and when Eve shouted excitedly, she was shocked out of her revery.

"Gabrielle! It's beautiful!" she pointed ahead of them to the little village of Amphipolis.

Even from this distance it was obvious that the village thrived. Villagers, farmers, and artisans alike mingled in the square. Smoke billowed from multiple chimneys, and childrens' laughter floated on the wind to reach the two travellers' ears.

Gabrielle smiled affectionately. "That's the Amphipolis that I remember. They were only just rebuilding when I was here last."

Eve stared at her compationately. "When mother died?" she asked gently.

Gabrielle was silent for a moment, the only sounds were of the horse hooves and the distant villagers. "I had a promise to fullfill," she told Eve quietly. "I brought her home... didn't even stay the night. I couldn't bear to sleep in that tavern. The villagers didn't even know I was here."

"You should have stayed," Eve told her, suprising her. "Mother deserved tribute in her own village. Now, all they know is that, in the cover of darkness, Xena was placed in the masoleum with her family."

Gabrielle bowed her head. She had never considered that. No one in this village had known Xena, had grown up with her. But she was of their village. She was the Warrior Princess, a hero. In her own self-pitying heartache, Gabrielle had never considered Amphipolis wanting or needing to pay tribute to their fallen heroine.

Gabrielle was silent all the rest of the way into the village. The inhabitants smiled curiously at them as they passed through the gates and rode through the center of the market. Gabrielle pulled Danae to a stop in front of that all-too-familiar tavern and stared at the open door, the customers moving happily in and out. Somehow, for some reason, she still expected to see Cyrene; small and dark Cyrene, wiping her hands on a dishtowel as she came outside to greet her daughter and partner. She supposed Cyrene had become like a second mother; her kind face and warm hospitality... it was hard to imagine anyone else running the tavern.

Eve swung herself off of her horse and wraped the reins around the post a couple of times. She looked up at Gabrielle, who seemed lost in thought, and spoke softly so as not to startle her. "Gabrielle... I'm going to get us a room. We may be here a few days." But there was no responce, not even an acknowledgement from the woman. "Gabrielle?"

Gabrielle drew in a deep breath, coming back to herself. She shook her head and blinked hard, trying to clear her disorientation. "Um..." a look at the tavern, and then she turned back to her companion, "Eve, I..."

Eve held up her hand and smiled sweetly. "I know. I'll get us the room. I'll join you in a little while."

Gabrielle glanced around, blushing at how easily she was read. Ultimately, she just nodded and pulled Danae's reins to steer her away and down a side alley.


	5. Chapter 5

Eve sighed and turned to face the tavern. It was much cleaner and better kept than the last time she'd seen it. But then... the circumstances had been very different. Holding her sari against her shoulder, more comfort and protection to her than an actual adjustment, she made her way up the stairs and through the large doors.

The patrons stared curiously at the newcomer as she made her way to the bar cautiously. Eve sat herself on a stool and glanced around self-conciously, smiling as if it would break her own tension. The bartender, a young man in his 20's, tall and dark, came over to greet her swiftly and smiled pleasantly at her.

"What can I do for you today?"

"Just, um, two beds. My friend and I may be here a few days." Eve was fidgetting nervously, but wasn't entirely sure why. The tavern was not as she remembered it; in disarray or plagued with the influence of Hell, but something felt different. Not wrong, but out of place.

The young man's smile dropped slowly and he spoke with reluctance. "We're a bit crowded tonight. There's only one room left."

"We'll take it!" Eve was fighting through her nerves, trying to encourage him with patronage.

The man hesitated and spoke low, "You should know... that room..."

"Tristan," a stern voice sounded, and the young man looked up, alarmed. "Accept the lady's money and give her the key." The voice emerged from the kitchen in the form of a tall, dark man with a long pointed face, much like the bartender, but much older.

"Yes, father," Tristan shrank from his father's dark gaze. "We need pork at table two," he added meekly as he took Eve's coins and handed her a long, bent key, his eyes never meeting hers.

Eve took the key slowly, warily. She had known something was strange, and Tristans's attempt to warn her of something just confirmed it. Tristan's father tried to give her a pleasant face, but she was already suspicious of him.

Tristan rushed off to his other customers, glancing at Eve slyly. But Eve was watching him carefully and every time he tried to steal a look at her, they would lock eyes and he shyed away. She tried to read his emotions, but all she could see was a scolded child in his movement and expression. The tavern was too busy for her to try to press him for information, so Eve slid off the barstool and made her way out under Tristan, and several others', watchful eyes.

Once outside, Eve couldn't help but let the incident in the tavern go. The village was so alive! Eve smiled, watching two young boys race each other through the square. A little girl, barely more than a baby, tried desperately to run after them. Eve couldn't help but imagine her mother as this little girl. Xena must have been such a fierce child, determined to best her brothers, refusing to accept 'smaller' or 'weaker' as an excuse. The little girl's mother scooped her up and jogged with the laughing child to catch up to the boys. Eve had only met Cyrene once; a brief, beautiful encounter before her grandmother was taken away to Paradise. But, Cyrene had seemed such a warm spirit; giving and maternal. For a moment, just a fraction of a second, Eve felt a flash of hatred for Ares and Octavius. That child could have been her. She could have grown up with her mother, her grandmother, Gabrielle, Joxer... poor Joxer. She'd have never felt the rush of bloodshed. She may have even grown up with Virgil and his brothers and sisters. She would have grown up with love, not bloodlust. She'd have known her true destiny; Gabrielle would have taught her, raised her with Eli's teachings. Jadxea truely would have been raised as her sister.

Eve let the moment go. The past could not be changed. She must accept it, and not turn to anger and hatred, but love. She must embrace her former life and all it taught her to become her present self. Keeping that mantra close to her heart, Eve closed her eyes and breathed deeply. Maybe, just maybe, if she breathed the fresh smells of Amphipolis deep enough, she could inhale the tranquility and simplicity of it all. She wasn't sure if it was working, but Eve smiled, feeling something, some residual presence of her mother's sweet arms around her, comforting her. Her heart ached for that lost comfort; she had wanted a mother for so long, only to lose her too soon. Eve forced that residual comfort to stay with her as the wind blew through her hair. But, her eyes snapped open quickly. It had been her; she had burned that scent into her memory from the first moment her mother had held her. Xena's scent had wafted to her in the breeze, and Eve spun in circles where she stood, nearly convinced she would find her mother among the crowd of villagers.

But there was nothing. No tall, dark, blue-eyed beauty. But the scent lingered heavily in Eve's memory. It had been her. Xena was trying to tell her that she was on the right track.

Excited, her heart racing, Eve set off down the steps, and made her way through the market. The masoleum was the next obvious step and she needed to tell Gabrielle about this experience.

Slowly, reverently, Gabrielle made her way into the barren, cold room. She placed her torch from the anti-chamber into the bracket on the wall, and lit three candles from its flame.

"Lyceus," she smiled sweetly at the first casket she approached, "I hope you've been taking care of them." She set the candle beside the casket and brushed off the dust as best she could. "I have a flower for you," she set it at the head, "Sorry I didn't have anything more appropriate."

"Cyrene," she moved to the second casket, dark and unfitting of the sweet woman who's charred bones lay inside. Gabrielle set a candle beside the box, and placed a bright red rose on top of it. "The roses are growing wild behind the tavern. It's hard to be there without you. None of the villagers may have known you, but it's as if Amphipolis itself misses you. I certainly do. I have a child, Cyrene! A daughter! She's beautiful, and smart... she's so like Xena."

Gabrielle breathed for courage, and let her eyes roam over to the beautiful, blue, encrusted urn perched on a pillar beside Cyrene's remains. Gabrielle herself had stolen that pillar from the back of the stone mason's shop. There was more pride than shame in the knowledge of this. Slowly, she moved around Cyrene and close to the waist-high pillar. She reached out and traced the carving she had drawn in the top; 'Xena: Warrior Princess'. Tears she couldn't stop streamed down her cheeks, but she was strangely calm as she stared at the little Japa-crafted urn.

"I know you've heard me," Gabrielle spoke to her fallen friend. "Not a day goes by that I haven't spoken to you. Sometimes I miss you so much that I can't breathe!" she choked on her words slightly. she swallowed the lump growing in her throat and licked her lips to released the tension in her jaw. "I wish you could see Jadxea! She is more beautiful every time I look at her. She wants to be just like you someday. And of course," Gabrielle chuckled through her tears and rolled her eyes, "she doesn't believe me when I tell her that you would never want her to pick up a weapon. I worry about her sometimes... a lot actually." Gabrielle set the last candle on the pillar beside the urn, and arranged small white blossoms around the carving.

"Daisies," Gabrielle smiled. "I know you never really had a favorite flower. The Gods know how many times I tried to make you appreciate 'nature's beauty'. I was such a child, wasn't I?" she laughed. "How did you ever put up with me?"

Her tears were beginning to shake her body, and Gabrielle shrank to the floor slowly, her head resting against the pillar as if it were Xena herself. "I know Eve is right. You did what you knew had to be done. You blamed no one but yourself. I hate knowing that!" Gabrielle was quiet. She wiped her eyes, attempting to stop the river of tears that flowed from them. It wasa no use, the salty stream merely carved a new path down her cheeks. She gasped, trying to stop the sobs that tore at her throat, and looked up as if the roof would suddenly open, and Xena would descend in glowing white to take her away from these crushing emotions. "Why am I here?" she asked the heavens, and then yelled again, "Why am I here!"

But the heavens, Xena, Cyrene, not even Lyceus offered an answer. Gabrielle shook her head and once again tried to thwart her tears to no avail. "Xena," she whispered earnestly, her throat closing, "where are you?"

"Gabrielle?"

Gabrielle's eyes widened. That was Xena's voice, she was sure! She looked at herself, touching her own skin; she wasn't dreaming. Finally brave enough, Gabrielle looked around the masoleum, searching for lean curves, long dark hair, and sky-blue eyes.

Nothing. The masoleum was empty, she was the only living soul in sight. The crushing weight of lonliness and disappointment crashed down on her, and Gabrielle slumped back against the pillar, no longer inhibiting her tears.

"Gabrielle?"

But the grieving woman wouldn't be fooled. She didn't move, setting her jaw tight, bitterly.

"Gabrielle, are you in here?"

The room got brighter, and despite this, Gabrielle did not move. But then there was scuffling and an extra light was moving toward her. Gabrielle, slowly, expecting another disappointment, raised her eyes to a slender, dark haired, blue-eyed beauty standing over her.

"Gabrielle," Eve knelt beside her, holding her torch away from the pillar and her mother's remains, "it's just me. Are you all right?"

Gabrielle only breathed for a few moments. She couldn't do much more than gape at Eve. For a moment, just a split second, she'd have sworn it was Xena standing over her. Xena; eager to help, looking for a way to take away her pain... reaching out to hold her. But it was Eve... little Eve. The woman before her would always be her little Eve; a child to fiercely protect and tell stories to. And in that moment, there were no words for this grown child who seemed so like her mother.

Eve smiled at Gabrielle compationately and pulled the little blonde woman into a tight embrace. "We'll find her," she assured. "I promise, Gabrielle, we'll find her."


	6. Chapter 6

Everything seemed to be an ordeal for poor, newly-grieving Gabrielle. It took a moment for Eve to convince her to go into the tavern. And, once inside, nothing got easier. Everything was so familiar; hauntingly, disturbingly so. Eve tried very hard to be encouraging and facinated by the stories that Gabrielle tearfully recounted, instead of concerned and nervous. They ate a simple meal as Gabrielle nodded to the portion of the bar where she had saved Xena from stoning when they first met, and indicated the area where her suprise birthday party had once been held, and the corner where Cyrene had held a baby Eve and stood up to the goddess Athena for them. The stories were lovely, and welcome for Eve who was seeing her grandmother's clean and beautiful tavern for the first time. But Gabrielle, though she seemed incapable of stopping the stories that fell eloquently from her lips, grew quiet and her eyes seemed distant as the stories progressed. Eve wasn't sure whether to be proud of Gabrielle for being able to talk about it, or concerned for what those memories might do to an already fragile woman.

The meal was hardly touched. Gabrielle was far too concerned for her Aunt Gabrielle. When they reached the to of the stairs, heading up to their room, Gabrielle froze. Eve had her hand on the latch before she realized that her great Amazon companion was paralyzed on the stairs.

"Gabrielle?" Eve tried desperately to read the woman's pale face.

"That's our room?" Gabrielle asked, pure fear and terror resonating through every pore of her body.

"It's the only on they had left," Eve apologized, and suddenly remembered the bartender who had tried to warn her. Now, Gabrielle's drained and panicked face set her mind racing as to what lay inside that room. "Are you all right?"

"I... um..." Gabrielle stuttered. She wrung her hands and set her jaw tight. "Gods, this place!" she cursed it and herself.

Realization dawned on Eve quickly and her eyes widened as she glanced back at the door, trying not to be excited. "This... oh, Gabrielle! This is mother's room, isn't it?"

"I don't..." Gabrielle trembled, looking away. "I don't know if I..."

"No!" Eve encouraged excitedly. "No, this is wonderful! Don't you see? Being in mother's room, close to her in a way... we might find some clue as to where she is! How we can save her!" And with that, Eve happily flung the bedroom door open to simple room.

She practically ran inside, in awe, wonder sparkling in her eyes as if she'd just entered a palace. She bagan running her fingers over the walls, the door, the window that opened out over the courtyard. Her mother had been here, slept here. Xena had dreamed of becoming a great fighter in this room. She hid from her brothers in this room. She had been a child here... and here she would have raised her child. Eve gazed around at what would have, could have been her room, or the room she snuck into to try on her mother's clothes. She closed her eyes and tried to imagine herself as a small child, creeping through the creaking door in the early dawn to wake her two mothers, wraped in each other's arms. When Eve opened her eyes, she was awarded the sight of her sweet, blonde mother standing beside the bed. Gabrielle was shaking from head to toe, but she slid her palms lovingly over the bedframe.

"We used to sleep here," Gabrielle stated in almost a whisper. "A lot of the furnature is new, but... this was our bed. This was Xena's bed. We used to lie her for hours and talk." She smiled, "I was usually the one doing most of the talking, but... we would talk about the places we wanted to go and see. We talked about our pasts and how grateful we were for each other." Gabrielle lifted her watery eyes and smiled up at Eve. "We laid here together and wondered what we would name our child that was growing so quickly inside of her." Eve smiled back at the mental image. "This was our bed," Gabrielle whispered, clinging tight to the bedposts.

"Mother always intended for you to be my second mother," Eve watched the small, weeping blonde.

Gabrielle hesitated. She wanted Xena to be the one for Eve to cling to. There should be no substitues, no second best. "Um..." she debated, "actually..."

"Gabrielle," Eve caught her eyes, "that wasn't a question. Mother meant for you to be my other parent. So..." she reached over and took Gabrielle's offered hand across the span of the bed, "tell me about my mother the way you tell Jadxea. Just for tonight, we will lay in the bed you shared with my mother, and you can tell me everything about her."

Gabrielle glanced nervously at her matress. Looking at this bed was painful enough, but laying on it, sleeping on it... without Xena... It would require a strength she wasn't sure she could command in herself.

Eve, seeing Gabrielle's hesitation, took the initiative to kneel on the bed, still holding tight to her hand, she slid under the blankets. "Tell me about my mother." Gabrielle looked away to hide the arrow that seemed to have pierced her heart. "Tell me a story..." Eve pleaded with Xena's ice-blue eyes, "please, Aunt Gabrielle?"

Gabrielle looked back at sweet Eve, attempting a smile at the title she had agreed on many years ago. She took a deep breath and slowly sunk into the bed, wrapping the woman in her arms so that her head naturally fell against Gabrielle's chest. "My little Evey," she caressed her dark hair and hugged her child close.

"I sing of Xena: The Warrior Princess

A fighter, a mother, and my dearest love..."

Gabrielle stirred lightly. Sleep had claimed her long before, but something was drawing her into conciousness. The heavy weight on her chest was and odd comfort, as Eve's rythmic breathing ebbed and flowed like waves against her. There was another presence in the room, though; she could feel it. She tightened her arms around Eve instinctually. Her drowsiness threatened to consume her, even though her better judgement fought it.

The presence meant her no harm, somehow she knew that. It was waiting, watching her. She could feel its concentration focused on her. Compermising between drifting off to sleep, or being on the defensive, Gabrielle lazily attempted to open her sleep-encrusted eyes.

At the end of the bed, gripping the frame, Gabrielle barely made out the outline of a familiar form. She tried to blink, forcing her eyes to clear, but the form itself was blurry and hard to make out. It was a girl,slender and small. She seemed no more than maybe late-teens to early 20's, with soft, straight strawberry-blonde hair. She watched Gabrielle with deep green eyes that seemed filled with curiosity as if she could peer into Gabrielle's mind.

She tilted her head suddenly and watched Eve sleep soundly. Some protective instinct in Gabrielle made her hold Eve tighter, and the woman squirmed slightly in her arms. The girl's focus came back to Gabrielle, her curiosity intensified. Gabrielle didn't think she saw the girl's mouth move, if she could find her mouth, but a voice suddenly echoed in Gabrielle's ears;

"Is that why you never loved me?"

Gabrielle sank deep into the bed, clutching Eve. The haze that surrounded the girl's slender frame seemed to intensify, and she leaned over the bedframe toward the uncomfortable woman.

Gabrielle knew that voice. The deep gravel in the throat had been burned into her memory from the first day she'd heard it. But she was not afraid. The question posed to her had not been as dark and menacing as the first time that voice had uttered those hateful words. This time it seemed a sincere question. The girl honestly just wanted to know why Gabrielle didn't love her. Grief and regret suddenly flooded Gabrielle, and she nearly cried as the girl at the end of the bed watched her reaction.

Some unobserved movement or sound suddenly caught the girl's attention. Her calm expression never changed, but she quickly backed away from the bed, looked around herself, and then vanished into thin air.

"Mother!" Eve cried suddenly, breaking free of Gabrielle's embrace and sitting up, panting.

"She isn't here," Gabrielle soothed, joining Eve in her upright position.

"She was!" Eve insisted. "I felt her! I saw her!"

"That wasn't her, Evey," Gabrielle assured, nervously staring at the spot where the girl had vanished. "It wasn't your mother. It was my daughter. It was Hope."

Terreis rubbed her eyes and rolled in her straw bed. Light streamed in the open window and fell across her eyes. It was warm on her face and she curled happily under the bearskin blanket.

She turned over to share the beautiful morning with her little roommate and found an empty bedroll. Terreis searched her mind for the last she saw Jadxea. She remembered the night before, her eyelids were heavy as she watched her little friend, concentrated and confused, peel open scroll after scroll and read by firelight. She must have fallen asleep while Jadxea was reading. The child hadn't spoken a word to her all night, and Terreis had worried. But now that she wasn't in her bed, Terreis was beginning to panic.

She climbed out of bed and searched the little hut. There hadn't been much evidence of the girl to leave behind, but it did not escape the sharp young Amazon that Gabrielle's scrolls were nowhere to be found.

Still in the process of securing her clothing, Terreis rushed out of the hut and into the one she had found Jadxea tucked away in. But the hut was bare. Her pack, the food, even a few things Queen Gabrielle herself had left behind. The final inspection was the barn. In confirmation of her fears, Terreis found Kepi's stall left open, the palimino pony, nowhere to be found.

Cursing herself, the young Amazon ran back out to the square, looking for someone of authority. Quickly, she found her mother discussing something with Queen Cyane by the counsel hut.

"Mother!" Terreis ran to her, red in the face and out of breath. "My queen," she nodded her respect to the little blonde woman, "my humblest apologies. Little Jadxea... she's gone."


	7. Chapter 7

"You're not listening," Eve grumbled uncharacteristically. "I know it was her! I saw her! I could smell her!"

"Evey," Gabrielle tried to reason, "explain to me how we could have seen two different people in the exact same position at the same time. And keep in mind that I woke up before you."

"I don't know! I can't explain it! But I know who I saw!" the woman insisted.

"All right! All right," Gabrielle backed down, relaxing her muscles and settling back into the bed. Maybe it was just a dream," the little blonde wasn't only trying to convince Eve. "The Gods know... this house... it'll play tricks on the mind."

"Gabrielle," Eve grumbled, frusterated and angry, "I know who I saw. I know my own mother!"

"Evey, honey, we were dreaming. Nothing more, okay?" Gabrielle nervously tried to wrap herself up in her blanket.

"Stop trying to make this okay!" Eve yelled, catching Gabrielle off guard and making her even more comfortable. "This is not something to just brush off!"

"Do you know how many times I've seen her?" Gabrielle snapped, fire in her eyes. "In my mind, in my dreams; when the wind blows just right, I can hear her voice! Sometimes I close my eyes, and all I can see is her smile! All I can hear is her laughter!" She was breathing heavily, her nostrils flairing. "And all of that is a thousand times more painful than the nights that I dream of the moment I found her headless body strung up like a trophy! It's not real, Eve!" she yelled. "She's gone! She made her choice and now I have to live with it!" The women watched each other, holding strong to both of their convictions. Finally, Gabrielle rolled over, the blanket covering her, facing away from Eve, and mumbled, "And now you have to live with that too."

Eve backed away from the bed and sunk into a chair, watching long blonde hair twist under the blankets. So much bitterness, so much hatred... was there no solice, no comfort for this woman in the knowledge that, even if only in her mind, her lover had never left her? Eve breathed deeply and looked out the window. "The sun's coming up. It'll be full light soon." Silence from the bundle on the bed. "A bit pointless to try to sleep now," Eve tried to difuse the tension in the air. But the lump under the blankets was stiff and ridged, unwaivering. Slowly, Eve climbed out of the chair and sank onto the bed beside her little mother. "You saw Hope?" The bundle took a shuddering breath in reaction. "But she's dead. How could she-"

Gabrielle roled to face Eve and sighed heavily. "Your mother's gone, and we've been seeing a whole lot of her lately, haven't we? The real question is; why is Hope here in Amphipolis?"

"You believe me?" Eve asked with wide innocent eyes. It was rare to see that face, but whenever she did, Gabrielle caught a glimpse of the child she was supposed to help raise.

"I don't know what I believe," Gabrielle shook her head. "But we came here for a purpose. We're going to see this through."

Eve gave her a wide, toothey grin, happily inching a bit closer to Gabrielle. The little Amazon reached up and stroked Eve's cheek softly, letting her fingers linger at the crook of her smile. Eve took hold of the pale, little hand and held it lovingly against her cheek.

"I look like her, don't I?" Eve watched Gabrielle set her jaw to stop the tears.

"So much that it's hard to look at you sometimes," she nodded, choking a little.

The pair didn't go anywhere right away. Gabrielle stayed tucked soundly into bed, though she didn't sleep at all. She pushed her pillow away instead, and clung to the thin straw matress. The matress was undoubtedly new, but there was a comfort somehow in holding it close. Gabrielle felt certain that she had dozed of at one point, when she felt familiar arms snake around her mid-drift, and a distinct smell reached her senses. She quickly rolled over, but there was no one with her in the old bed.

Eve spent the rest of the morning on the floor, in prayer. She would occationally rock and hum, and then relax back into stillness. The room was slowly flooding with light as the sun rose higher and higher. Eve smiled, a vision coming to her behind closed eyes;

_A dark, raven-haired child darted around the sparse room, collecting the small items off of the mantle over the fireplace. She placed them by the window, well out of her way. She crept over to her door, careful of certain floorboards, and delicately released the latch. Peering out, she made sure there was no one around her room, and then gently closed the door, replacing the latch, hardly making any noise. An enthusiastic, determined smile crossed her little face as she climbed up onto the head of her bed, facing the dark fireplace. With a deep breath, her blue eyes sparkling with excited anticipation, the little girl launched herself at her baseboard. Throwing herself at it, head first, she gripped the plank at the foot of her bed, and forced her feet up over her head. She landed hard, her feet hitting the floor successfully, but sliding out from under her as her torso tried to come up to standing. She fell, catching herself on her hands, but froze, suddenly aware of how much noise she had just made._

_ Sure enough, footsteps came stomping up the stairs, and her mother's voice carried into the little room. "Xena! What in the name of Zeus...! Xena! You come out here this minute!"_

_ Her whole body in panic-mode, the little girl scrambled to her feet. She ran to her bed and straightened her covers, pulling them back a bit to make it seem as if she'd just gotten out of bed._

_ "Xena!"_

_ She quickly ruffled her dark hair and rubbed her eye innocently as she shuffled to the door. "Morning, Mother," she cooed sweetly. _

_ "What was all that noise?" Cyrene demanded, melting slightly at the sight of her sweet little one._

_ "I don't know," she grumbled sleepily. "It woke me up. Sounded like it came from Torris' room."_

_ Cyrene studied her daughter for a moment, unable to determine if the child was telling the truth. Another door banged open before she could decide, and a dark little boy, a few years older than Xena, stormed out of his room._

_ "It was __not__ me!" Torris fumed. "It __was__ Xena, Mother! I heard her!"_

_ "I was alseep, Mother," Xena shruged. Her eyes flashed at Torris, and then she quickly pouted. "You're always trying to blame me for everything!"_

_ "Do not!" Torris retorted, his face turning bright red. "It wasn't me, Mother!"_

_ Another door opened and a small blonde, curly-haired boy, the youngest of them all, came waddling out, rubbing the sleep off of his face. "What's going on?" he yawned and stepped close to Cyrene, clutching her skirt in his little fist._

_ "It's okay, Lyceus," Xena cooed at him, watching her mother run her fingers through her baby brother's hair. She smiled at him, a silent bribe in her dark little face. "Torris was just making lots of noise."_

_ "I did not!" The oldest boy knew exactly where this was heading, but wasn't quite as clever as his sister to stop her._

_ "He's trying to blame me for it, Lyceus," Xena explained, scowling at her older brother, and smiling at the younger._

_ "Torris," Lyceus began with the hint of a baby's lisp, "you shouldn't lie like that."_

_ "I'm not lying!" Torris yelled and pointed at his sister. "She is!"_

_ "Torris," Cyrene scolded, "there is no reason to talk to your sister like that, let alone your brother!"_

_ "But she..."_

_ "Enough!" Cyrene released her youngest and watched him take his big sister's hand. "I want all of you dressed and at your chores in ten minutes! Understand?" The siblings nodded. "Good. Torris, I will speak to you later about jumping around your room like heathen this early in the morning." That was final, and Cyrene made her way back downstairs, leaving Torris gaping after her._

_ "Come on, Lyceus!" Xena tugged the boy into her room, giving a mischievious smile to Torris as her door closed behind them._

Eve waited for the vision to fade, but instead the door seemed to swing open on it's own. The little hall was empty, no sign of an indignant Torris.

_Instead, a familiar little girl, dark and lithe was standing on the top step. Jadxea stared curiously in on Xena and Lyceus, sitting on the floor playing with a small, detailed wooden sheep. Jadxea inched forward, bracing her hands on either side of the doorframe._

_ Little Xena looked up from her carved toy to meet the child's eyes. She smiled happily at Jadxea and squealed with all her childish enthusiasm; "You found me!"_

_ Jadxea tilted her head, seemingly unable to keep a smile off of her face. "Who are you?"_

The vision went black and Eve's eyes snapped open. She was off the floor in seconds, Gabrielle's voiced concern barely reaching her ears. Eve practically threw herself into the windowsil, pushing open the shutters and gazing down into the village square.

"Eve?" Gabrielle joined her at the window, concern etched on her face. "What did you see?"

Without looking at the blonde, she pointed down into the square where a lone rider was doing laps, peering delicately into each window. Gabrielle followed Eve's gesture and found her daughter, perched proudly atop her little palimino, searching each structure she passed.

Gabrielle cursed, and immediately set about pulling out her Egyptian cloth and wrapping it tightly around herself. Strapping her sais into her boots, she yanked the door open and practically flew down the tavern stairs.

An odd cross-breeze swept through the room, pushing Eve's hair into her face. She spun around, immediately feeling the heavy presence in the space, bearing down on her. There was an overwhelming feeling of fear and confusion, strangely mixed with excitement and anticipation. Eve spun and looked out the window again, leaning across the sill in time to see Gabrielle run in front of little Kepi and grab her halter. The little girl perched atop looked strangely calm, staring into the face of her furious mother.

The voice of little Xena echoed in her mind; "you found me!". It was the child; it was Jadxea, she was the key. Somehow, for some reason, it would be up to little Jadxea to find Xena; to free her or... return her to her family. Eve breathed; that was her own secret, covitous wish. She tried to push it out of her mind, but it clung to her heart.

She looked down and found the little girl, suddenly looking much like Xena herself, climb off her tired pony and stare up at her mother, strong and defiant while Gabrielle hurled panicked, angry questions at her. She remained quiet, standing her ground and letting her mother rant.

Eve wrapped her sarri up and over her shoulder, securing it as she reluctantly but quickly left the bedroom. She couldn't let Gabrielle send the child back to the Amazons. She was the way to reach Xena. They needed her. As she descended the stairs, Eve sent a silent prayer to Eli that Gabrielle would agree with her.


	8. Chapter 8

Eve stepped tentatively through the tavern. She could hear the kitchen busselling quietly, the scent of fresh bread hanging in the air. Breakfast would be served soon. Whatever they were going to do needed to be done soon. She was about to sneak outside when she heard a door suddenly swing open.

Young Tristan stood frozen in the kitchen doorway, staring at Eve with wide, almost panicked eyes. She smiled at him politely, natural instinct being to put him at ease. But he suddenly took a step away from her and looked over his shoulder into the kitchen. Eve tried to find what he was looking for, but he quickly came back and locked eyes with her. She waited, watching him encouragingly. This was the second time they had come in contact and he acted as if he needed to tell her something. Eve was desperate now, especially after the night's events, to know what this young man had to say. He opened his mouth and Eve fought to hide her excitement.

"Tristan!" an older woman's voice called. "Eggs don't hunt themselves! Let's go! We have hungry guests!"

Tristan hesitated for a moment, looking as if he may ignore the command from the kitchen. Eve stepped forward, but it seemed as if that was exactly the wrong thing to do. Tristan's eyes went even wider and he immediately ran out the back door. Eve sighed and cursed herself for being too eager. Where had her patience been lost in this place?

As if her patience were a physical adjustment, Eve shifted her weight, and made her way outside. She was hardly through the door when Gabrielle's voice reached her. The Amazon was near to yelling now and Eve breathed, readying herself to be mediator.

"You know that Kepi can't handle a journey like that!" Gabrielle ranted at her child. "Look at her, Jadxea! She's exhausted! It's a wonder she's even standing. I can't believe she didn't throw you on the way here! What were you thinking?"

"Gabrielle," Eve called softly. Both Jadxea and Gabrielle turned their focus to her simultaneously. Jadxea's gaze clung to her, strong and calm, stealing Eve's attention. "She's safe. Be thankful for that," she reasoned.

"Eve," Gabrielle ran her hand through her bangs, her tone softer, but her body still prepared for the fight, "not now." She turned back to her daughter, demanding attention. "Jadxea?" But the little girl only had eyes for Eve now. Her little mouth was drawn tight together, unyeilding. "Jadxea! Look at me! Jadxea!" Gabrielle grabbed her child's shoulders and shook her lightly. "Jadxea! What possessed you to go off on your own like that?"

Quickly, Jadxea's attention snapped back to her mother. Ever silent, the girl backed away, out of Gabrielle's grip, her cobalt eyes fixed on her now. She ran a hand along Kepi's neck, the pony stamping lightly in responce.

"Jadxea!" Gabrielle insisted. "Answer me!"

Her gaze focused only on her mother, Jadxea blindly untied the pack attatched to her saddle. Confusion clouded Gabrielle's angry face, and Jadxea nearly sneered at her. As soon as the pack was lifted off of her horse, the girl threw it at her mother's feet. The clasp came undone as the pack landed and a couple of scrolls worked out of the binding.

"You left them in the village," Jadxea answered the silent question in the air. "Terreis thought I might like to read them."

Gabrielle gaped at her past lying at her feet, old and tattered, now covered in dirt. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Eve move down between her little mother and sister. Rational words escaped the bard and she stammered, "I... I don't understand..."

"Why didn't you ever tell me about Xena, Mother?" Jadxea's face was set like stone.

"Jadxea," Eve began futily. The girl's gaze met Eve's compassionate expression, but there was nothing more she could say. This was Gabrielle's child, and only Gabrielle could answer her.

Jadxea found her mother again and she waited, demanding an answer. But Gabrielle was at a loss, unwilling to release her thoughts, unable to speak if she wanted to. "More secrets," Jadxea mumbled, forcing a reaction out of the woman. "More lies?" she accused, and watched Gabrielle's eyes dart around evasively.

Eve quickly reached out and caught Gabrielle's wrist, demanding her focus. "No," she whispered, "don't run from her." Gabrielle's eyes were wide and frightened. "Tell her," Eve encouraged.

"You don't understand," Gabrielle whispered low enough that the child couldn't hear. "It's not so easy. If she knew..."

"If she knew?" Eve stepped close and tried to read Gabrielle. Something inside her told her to take hold of the other wrist, which she did. Suddenly, words were pouring out of her. She had no idea where they were coming from, but she felt as if someone were whispering in her ear. "If she knew? If she knew about the travelling bard in the Pharoh's Lands who was kind enough to stop and help you get your horse safely out of the sandstorm? If she knew how he paid for a meal and shelter for you through the night? How he listened to you for candlemarks talking about your family and how you missed them? How he never even thought to touch you until you kissed him?" Gabrielle was trying to back away, but Eve's grip was just too tight. "If she knew that the father you've been describing to her was a woman who died a year before her conception? If she knew that you haven't thought of that Egyptian traveller since the night she was born? If she knew, that night she came into the world, you passed out and that the woman you loved came to you, and somehow got you through the full day of blinding labor pain to bring that beautiful child into being?" Eve's grip relaxed and she went quiet as the last bit of information spilled from her lips. "Just as you once did for her..."

Gabrielle would have run as far and as fast as she could if she'd had the strength to move. Instead, she stood, frozen in terror at Eve's words. "How... how did you know that?"

"I don't..." Eve took the initiative to step away, somewhat afraid of herself, staring at her hands as if they were lethal weapons. "I don't know."

"Mother?" Jadxea's little voice sounded behind the pair and Eve spun to look at her. "Please tell me why you never told me about her?"

Gabrielle looked to Eve, willing, begging her not to repeat everything that had just been revealed to her. She watched as the Messanger of Eli knelt in front of the child and sweetly took her hands.

"Jadxea," Eve began, the child's angry and confused eyes falling on her, "Xena was my mother, and she died. But your mother and I... we loved her so very much. And when you love someone so much and lose them so quickly... sometimes it's difficult to talk about them. Sometimes it hurts to remember them." Eve reached up and brushed the dark hair behind Jadxea's ear, revealing the face that had softened and grown more comationate. "But, don't worry, little sister," Jadxea smiled, "she never meant to lie to you." Eve watched her to be sure that she understood and agreed. When the child nodded sincerely, Eve stood back up and immediately felt the small arms wrapped around her middle, and a little face pressed into her side.

Gabrielle stepped close, smiling through a tight jaw, and cupped Eve's cheek. "Thank you," she whispered sweetly. She looked down at her dark little girl and ran her fingers through the child's silk, black hair. "She can't stay here," she told Eve, glancing up at the bedroom window. "After what I saw this morning... it's not safe here."

Eve clutched Jadxea close and stared steadily, with conviction, into Gabrielle's eyes. "I'll keep her close to me. I'll protect her from anything evil that might be here..."

Gabrielle looked away, shaking her head, and sighed. "You don't know Hope. She's smart, and dangerous! I don't know how she survived, but this isn't the first time she's come back from death." Gabrielle shuddered, "She's powerful, and so far we've never been able to stop her... only delay her, apparently."

Eve nodded her understanding, and then focused on her Amazon mother with full conviction. "Maybe... but we have Eli on our side!" Gabrielle tried to agree, but her doubts plagued her and Eve could see it. "She's tired, Gabrielle. The horse is tired, and she can't ride back alone. We don't have a choice." She looked down and found little Jadxea's confused face gazing up at her. She looked to Gabrielle and affirmed, "She won't leave my side."

Gabrielle sighed, looking down at her child who clung to Eve like a life-thread. She tried to argue, but could find no words. Finally, she bent to the child's lvel and impressed the importance of her words on the girl. "Xea, it's very dangerous here. You stay close to Eve. You don't ever leave her side. Understand?" The girl nodded seriously to her mother, and Gabrielle looked up at Eve and nodded her reluctant agreement.

Eve smiled in hidden triumph and took hold of Jadxea's hand, leading her into the tavern. "Come on, little sister. Let's get you some breakfast."

"Well, you three were up early, weren't you?" a woman, some 10-15 years older than Gabrielle, with greying red hair, set cups of milk on the table and watched Jadxea take hers hungrily.

"Couldn't sleep," Gabrielle mumbled non-commitally into her drink.

"Do you own this tavern?" Eve, sitting across from Gabrielle, was more interested in the woman than the meal she offered.

"My husband," the woman smiled kindly. "And he inherited it from his father. It's become a family buisness."

Gabrielle shot a look to Eve that Eve wished she hadn't. The woman caught the look and glanced nervously between the woman. "Is something the matter, dear?"

"She's fine," Eve spoke for her quickly. "So then," she changed the subject effortlessly, "your son must be the young man I spoke to yesterday."

"Tristan?" the woman smiled fondly. "He's our youngest. He loves this tavern as if he owned it himself."

"Mmm," Eve nodded, smiling politely. "You know, this place is so beautiful, and Amphipolis has such history, I'm sure there are some wonderful stories about this tavern. My friend is a bard," Eve nodded to Gabrielle, mentally praying that she'd play along, "I'm sure she'd love to talk to Tristan. We'd love to know what it was like growing up here."

Eve looked to Gabrielle for support on this, and the woman fumbled for a moment. Why would she want to talk with a boy about the history of Amphipolis? She had lived most of it's history! But she took Eve's cue anyway and nodded as sincerely as she could manage. "Yeah, sure. I'd... love to talk to him."

"All right," the woman smiled, albeit a bit bewildered, "I'll send him out with your breakfast. He can speak to you before the rush begins."

"Thank you!" Eve grinned and watched her go back into the kitchen before bringing her attention back to her companions.

"What, in the name of Eli, was that about?" Gabrielle stared at her incredulously.

"I met Tristan yesterday while you were at the masoleum," Eve explained quickly, whispering excitedly, "and then again this morning. Both times he was trying to tell me something, and someone always stopped him. Whatever he has to say, I have a feeling it's important. If they think we're just talking about Amphipolis, maybe we can get him to tell us without anyone interfering."

Gabrielle tried to stifle a laugh behind her drink unsuccessfully. Eve's inquisitive look compelled her to speak. "Nothing. Nothing, it's a good plan," but again she choked on a laugh that she couldn't hide. "It's just... you are so your mother's child. All this planning just to ask someone a simple question."

Eve hid a sheepish grin behind her own cup of milk and wrapped a protective arm around Jadxea, who yawned wide against her side. The women giggled at each other for a moment, just enjoying the tension release, and the feeling of being together, laughing together. A family at their breakfast table.

Young Tristan approached the family's table to the sounds of laughter and conversation. He wasn't concerned with the guests at the table, only the plates that were balanced precariously on his hands and arms. He put on a smile as he reached his destination, setting the block of fresh bread and butter in the center. "Good morning," he greeted warmly, never really looking at his customers. He had instructions in his mind that repeated themselves, preoccupying him. The beef and egg was for the little girl. He set the plate in front of her and brilliant blue eyes smiled back. "Here you are, sweetheart. You look starved!" he commented kindly to her and she nodded vigourously. The plate of greens was for the dark-haired woman. He shifted his grip on the remaining plates and passed the correct tin in front of the correlating customer.

"Thank you," Eve impressed her words, forcing Tristan to pay attention to her.

Tristan froze for a second, his moth dropping open to gape at Eve. He shook his head slightly to clear it, determined not to let this woman distract him again. The fish was for the blonde woman. He breathed, setting himself to the task, but dropped the plate when his eyes met the small Amazon.

Gabrielle pursed her lips and looked under the table at her breakfast lying on the floor. "Well," she began, coming up and finding Eve keeping a close eye on their young server, "I wish I could say that was the first time that's happened to me."

"You..." Tristan whispered, pointing at Gabrielle, and glancing toward the stairs, "you're... but, I... are you real?"

"Sit down, Tristan," Gabrielle smiled at him. "You look like you've seen a ghost."

The young man glanced between the women, unsure of everything now. The little girl looked up curiously, but she seemed more interested in her food at the moment. The dark woman smiled warmly at him, reassuringly.

"Please, pull up a chair, Tristan. We'd like to talk to you," Eve invited as if the table, the tavern, all of it belonged to her, and he was merely a guest.

Slowly, not sure of what possessed him to do so, Tristan pulled a chair from the closest area and sat at the end of the table. He couldn't do much more than stare at Gabrielle. When she reached toward him, though, he nearly fell out of his chair as if she had just drawn her sais and attacked.

"Hello, Tristan," Gabrielle took the first inevitable step, leaning over and offering her hand, "I'm Gabrielle. This is Eve." Tristan looked like he might run from her any second. "We'd just like to talk to you."

"Don't worry," Eve smiled when he turned to face her, "we understand your confusion. You tried to tell me about it yesterday, when I rented the room, didn't you?" Tristan eyed both women suspiciously. Jadxea leaned against Eve's side as she chewed her bread, and the elder sister held her close. "You've seen someone who looks like Gabrielle before, haven't you?" Tristan's terrified gaze locked on Gabrielle. "Up in that room? Or maybe somewhere else in Amphipolis?"

Tristan glanced back and forth between the women, trying to decide if he should just get up and walk out now. But he met Gabrielle's sea foam green eyes and his mouth just dropped open of it's own accord. "It's not normally you. I don't see you as much as I see the other one." He saw Gabrielle and Eve trade excited looks and shook his head, "It's nothing. I imagined it. I promised my father I wouldn't talk about it. He think I'm crazy enough without adding telling strangers about all this to the list."

"No, no, it's okay, Tristan! It's okay!" Gabrielle assured, quietly, careful not to move too quickly toward him. He was already terrified of her enough. "We know! We've seen it. We just need you to tell us what you know!"

"We can help," Eve added her voice of assurance. "We can make them go away."

"Or bring her back," Gabrielle mumbled, "whatever may happen." Suddenly realizing what she'd said aloud, Gabrielle found Eve's sad eyes of understanding for a second. She focused back on Tristan. "The one who looks like me, you don't see her very often?" She was speaking slowly, encouraging him with all of her patience.

"Only twice," Tristan stammered nervously, still not sure why he was talking. "But the other one's there all the time."

Gabrielle and Eve exchanged a look, and Eve sat forward, mindful of Jadxea, who had fallen asleep against her side. "The other one, what does she look like? Has she ever spoken to you? How often do you see her?"

Gabrielle held out her hand to stop Eve, while Tristan looked like he may explode from all the questions. "Can you tell us what the other one looks like, Tristan?"

"I dunno!" Tristan shook his head, agitated. "Dark hair, lots of black leather, really tall..." Tristan lost himself in the memory for a moment, "... so intense... focused..."

It was Gabrielle's turn to get excited. She sat forward and begged a little louder than necessary, "Did she speak to you? Did she say anything? Anything at all?"

Tristan sat back, startled and seriously considering the safety of the kitchen only a few paces from him. "No! No, she doesn't talk! She never talks!" He watched the women sit back, dejected. The blonde looked as if she may cry, and her companion told her it was okay, that they'd find a way. He suddenly realized, he had hurt them, and he wasn't sure how.

Swallowing hard, Gabrielle stared at her sleeping child, that precious face mis-shapen against Eve's side, and pursed her lips. "We should put her to bed." She looked nervously up the stairs. She did not want to take Jadxea up to that room, and she let it show on her face.

Eve glanced around them. The village was waking, more and more patrons coming down and filling the tavern. Eve desperately wanted to take Jadxea up to their room and see what the little girl would do, but she knew Gabrielle would exhaust every other possibility before allowing that.

"Just the once," Tristan mumbled.

The women started. They'd forgotten he was still sitting there with them. They focused on him intently now and he shifted uncomfortably under their stare.

"She spoke to me once," he elaborated hesitantly. "Not you," he nodded to Gabrielle, "the dark one. The first time I saw her... it was in that room. She looked like I had interrupted her. Really... really upset," Tristan was practically cowering where he sat. "She just... she just disappeared after that. I thought I imagined it. But then, the next day, I was up there fixing the mantle. She was there suddenly... sitting on the bed, just talking to me." The memory made him go quiet, still, and ashen-faced.

"Tristan," Gabrielle's watery eyes caught the young man's, her heart feeling as if it may soar or break any second, "please! Please tell us what she said."

Tristan swallowed hard and glanced between the women. Finally, he took a deep breath, closing his eyes briefly for courage. "She said a lot of things. I couldn't hear it at first, like it was coming from far away. But... I remember her saying that she needed to find redemption from the one she had loved and hurt the most." Gabrielle and Eve looked to each other quickly. "She said redemption could only be found when the blood of her blood brought her through from the other side. Only then would she find the peace she fought for." Tristan glanced back and forth at Eve and Gabrielle, explaining quickly, "When she tried to come toward me, I just ran! Wouldn't you if a ghost just appeared and said something like that to you?" His eyes landed on Gabrielle and she gave him a crooked smile.

"I am the last person to be asking that question to," she locked eyes with Eve and took a deep breath. "But, thank you, Tristan, you've been more than helpful."

The young man hesitated for a moment, but once he realized these women weren't going to press him any further, Tristan sprinted from the chair and tucked himself away into the kitchen.

Gabrielle let her head fall into her hands with an angry sigh. "All this time... telling myself that she'd found peace and redemption... telling myself not to mourn her so heavily, that she knew what she was doing when she sacrificed herself... it was all a lie!"

"There was no way to know, Gabrielle," Eve rested a comforting hand on Gabrielle's arm. "We have pieces of the puzzle now, though. We're getting closer."

"The blood of her blood..." Gabrielle repeated and looked up at Eve. "You," Gabrielle could have passed for smiling now, "you can free her, Eve!"

"No," Eve shook her head. "It's not me. I don't know why, but I had a vision this morning. It's Jadxea. She's the one who has to save Mother."

"But..." Gabrielle looked to her sleeping child, shaking her head, "she's not Xena's. She's not of her blood. You stated that very plainly outside this morning."

"I know," Eve looked away, ashamed of the words she still didn't know how or why she had said. "I don't understand it, but I trust the vision."

"The last time your mother trusted a vision," Gabrielle tore at a piece of bread, "she and I ended up nailed to a cross."

"I know you're skeptical, but maybe that's why it is this way," Eve tried to explain. "Maybe this is Mother's way of trying to make you really understand; Jadxea is just as much Mother's child as I am yours. A child born of your love for each other... just as I was."

"Eve," Gabrielle was trying to shake off the wamth those words had spread inside her, "it's not the same."

"Isn't it?" Eve challenged. "Eli says that the only thing that makes someone a parent is love. It's true for you and I. Why should it exclude Jadxea and Mother?"

Gabrielle was grasping for an arguement now. She was fighting a losing battle. "But... but she said, the blood of her blood."

"Gabrielle," Eve stopped her, "I believe in this vision. I believe she can do this. And if I'm wrong... well, all we can be accused of is trying."

Gabrielle looked away, wishing she could take all of Eve's beautiful words for more than just beautiful words. for so long now she had built this lie up for Jadxea about her father, that she'd actually begun to believe it herself. But, for there to be some proof, some confirmation that her stories were actually true... that was something she wasn't sure she was ready to explain to her child. Gabrielle didn't really understand it herself. Her love for Xena always had transcended understanding. Looking down at Jadxea, sleeping against Eve, she noticed just how much she hadn't been lying. The little girl really did have Xena's defined jaw, her long neck, and that beautiful dark hair. Gabrielle took a deep breath and steeled herself, "We should wake her, then. Let her sleep in the bed upstairs." Eve smiled fondly at her.

_ Jadxea laid against Eve's side, the heaviness of fatigue suddenly leaving her. She tried to hear the words being exchanged between the three adults at the table, but they were fuzzy and distant. Indistinguishable words floated by her, and she focused harder, angrily determined to hear the conversation._

_ "Jadxea?" a familiar voice broke through the din of unrecognizable conversation. A woman's voice, calling from a distance, and Jadxea lifted her head off of Eve to find it._

_ "Your mother and Eve are busy, Xea," the woman's voice called. "Come upstairs. There's something I want to show you!"_

_ Jadxea climbed off the bench and made her way through the empty tavern, but stopped at the stairs, looking back at the table she had left. Her mother had told her not to leave Eve's side. As if in responce, the voice called again;_

_ "Xea! It's all right. You're safe with me. I'll protect you."_

_ That voice was so warm and comforting, like the fire in the hearth on a cold night. But still she hesitated, not sure if she wanted to trust a disembodied voice in the middle of a strange tavern that her mother had deemed unsafe._

_ "It's okay, sweetheart," the voice assured. "No harm will come to you. Trust me."_

_ There was something so safe, maternal, and familiar about that voice. Jadxea barely gave it another thought, she simply took the comforting words and began climbing the stairs. As she reached the top step, the door directly in front of her swung open on it's own, and a little girl sat on the floor. She was hardly more than Jadxea's age, and she smiled up at her new playmate as Jadxea entered the room._

_ "Hi," she stared at Jadxea with intent, focused eyes._

_ "Hi," Jadxea made her way inside and sat beside the girl, an instinct to stay close to her taking over. There was an odd silence that suddenly hung in the air. "I'm Jadxea," she tried to fill the silence._

_ "I know," the girl smiled even wider, and then went back to playing with her toy._

_ "What's that?" Jadxea looked over the girl's shoulder._

_ "A lamb," the girl answered, producing the small wooden toy. "See? When you pull his tail, he sticks his tongue out," the girl demonstrated, giggling with delight._

_ Jadxea laughed along and ran her fingers over the carved details. "Where did you get him?"_

_ The girl shrugged, but then furrowed her brow in concentration. "It belonged to someone. Someone I loved very much..."_

_ Jadxea tried to understand what that meant, but then the girl pulled the tail again and both girls dissolved into giggles on the floor. The girl inched closer to Jadxea, clutching the lamb close, her eyes suddenly solemn and sad._

_ "Will you stay here with me? Stay here and play? It's so happy here. I want you to stay."_

_ Jadxea bit her lip and glanced around herself. "My mother..." she attempted to explain, "she's downstairs waiting. I'm supposed to stay close to, um... my sister."_

_ "But," the girl looked as if she may cry, "I don't want you to go. I'm alone here. I'm so alone."_

_ "I..." Jadxea looked between her new friend and the staircase, "I just can't."_

"Jadxea!"

_ "Please don't leave me!" the little girl clutched her hand tight._

"Jadxea!"

_ "Please! Help me!" the girl pleaded, and Jadxea held tight to her hand._

"Jadxea! Xea, honey, wake up!"

Jadxea jumped, inhaling sharply as she came back to herself. Gabrielle and Eve were on either side of her, watching her with concern. Jadxea's eyes were wide as she sat up and looked around the busselling tavern, full of people. She waited for the comforting voice to speak to her again, but all she heard were the conversations around her and the calling of orders. Quickly, Jadxea found her mother's face and fought the urge to fall crying into her arms.

"We have to save her, Mother!" Jadxea implored. "She's so scared! Please, Mother!" She finally dissolved into sobs, throwing herself into Gabrielle's arms, and cried as her mother held her close. With her ear pressed against her mother's chest, she felt her voice vibrate through.

"Well... maybe you're right, Eve."


	9. Chapter 9

Jadxea clung to Gabrielle, refusing to lose her mother's warmth, even for a second, while she was half-carried out of the tavern. Not so long ago, her child would have been easily craddled and carried where-ever was necessary, but now Gabrielle struggled to keep a good grip on Jadxea as her whole body convulsed with sobs. Eve was doing what she could to take on some of the girl's weight, but the child refused to even surrender and single arm.

With a strong arm under her daughter's knees, Gabrielle craddled Jadxea the best she could, with Eve spotting them from behind as they left the tavern. They made their way as fast as they could around to the barn behind the tavern, eliciting curious eyes from the villagers that they passed. Once inside, Gabrielle was forced to let go of Jadxea's legs, but still her daughter pressed herself into the comfort of her mother's chest. Gabrielle stroked her head, pulling her dark hair out of her face, and sushing her as she walked her down the row of stalls. Danae snorted and stuck her head out to greet Gabrielle, but came around the other way when mother and daughter entered the adjacent stall. Whispering soothing words, Gabrielle lowered Jadxea onto the fresh hay beside her dozing pony, and reached out to stroke the pony's mane herself. "Shh... Xea, it's going to be okay, baby. Look, Xea, Kepi's worried about you." True enough, the tired pony lifted her head and nudged Jadxea's leg affectionately. "Everything's gonna be all right, baby. It's gonna be okay." Gabrielle rocked Jadxea lightly, and when the girl fell, crying into Kepi's neck, she was pulled along too.

Eve finished speaking quietly to the barnkeeper, who slipped out quietly on the excuse of an errand, and found Gabrielle curled around Jadxea protectively, and Jadxea tucked tighly into her horse. Eve watched them, appreciating the guidance to not get too eager. Exposing Jadxea, even just this much, to their situation had traumatized the child. Eve couldn't imagine if she had just thrown the girl up into Xena's bedroom. _' Why this child, Eli?'_ she prayed as she watched Gabrielle's grip on her daughter tighten. _'She's so beautifully innocent. How can she be expected to handle something that even Gabrielle and I don't understand? Why couldn't it be me, Eli?'_

Jadxea's sobbing was quieting, her breathing slowing down and Eve stepped close as Gabrielle lifted her head. Jadxea clutched at her mother's arm in panic from the slight loss of contact, and Gabrielle sushed her, kissing the side of her head lovingly. She raised her eyes to Eve's carefully and whispered, low and comforting. "Would you get her some water?" Eve nodded quickly, and moved swiftly, almost silently, out of the barn.

"Xea," Gabrielle nearly sang the child's name as she rocked her lightly, "sweetheart..." Jadxea nodded, acknowledging her mother's call. "Did you dream?" Another nod from the girl attached to her pony. "What did you see?"

"I..." Jadxea gasped, trying to regain her voice, "I tried to hold on. I couldn't!" The little girl lost herself to sobs once again. "I couldn't hold on to her!"

Eve moved back into the stall with a laddle of water balanced carefully, but stopped when she heard that coughing sound associated with excessive tears. Breathing deeply, Eve searched for the mental stillness inside herself. Between Jadxea's trauma, and Gabrielle's general worry, Eve knew that there was no room in this situation for her sudden impatience. Focus. Find peace. Believe in Eli and his God. Eve gazed down at Gabrielle, smiling slightly at her; how fortunate she was to have known Eli... so, why was she so doubtful of his influence? Eve shook it off.

"Xea, honey, breathe," Gabrielle instructed softly. "It's going to be okay. We're going to help her, but you have to tell us what you saw. Understand?" Jadxea coughed as she nodded. "Okay. Can you breathe for me? Take deep breaths." The little girl gulped, still clutching at Gabrielle's arms, but Gabrielle had no intention of releasing the child. "Do you want some water?" Jadxea nodded and Eve quickly knelt beside the linked pair, feeding the water to her so that she could keep her hold on her mother. Jadxea leaned back into her mother's embrace, hiccuping the end of her tears out, and matched her breath pattern to Gabrielle's.

"Okay," Gabrielle rocked her lightly, "I'm right here. I've got you," she tucked her head in, smoothing Jadxea's hair out of her face to kiss her cheek. "Can you tell me what you saw?"

"I- I was in the tavern," Jadxea struggled to keep her voice steady. "Upstairs. There was girl si- sitting on the floor."

"A girl?" Gabrielle interrupted, looking up at Eve in confusion. "A young girl? Like you?"

Jadxea nodded. "She was on the floor playing."

"In my vision," Eve reached over and touched the little blonde's arm, "Mother was a child. She was sitting on the floor playing with-"

"A lamb," Jadxea finished. "She showed it to me. She said that it used to belong to someone that she loved. Mother?" Jadxea didn't feel the hot tear fall from her mother's cheek into her silk-black hair. "She was so scared. Scared and sad. She was all alone up there. I tried to hold on to her. I did! But I- I couldn't!" A sob ripped through the child's body and she was immediatly rocking side to side again.

"It's okay," Gabrielle soothed, "don't cry. It's going to be okay. We're going to save her. Do you hear me, Jadxea?" Gabrielle reached out and took hold of Eve's hand, tucking her into the little huddle. "We're going to find her! We'll bring her home."

It seemed as if the entire tavern turned to face them as the trio entered again. Jadxea, her arms wrapped tight around her mother's middle, watched them all through red, raw eyes. Gabrielle held her daughter tight, the air in tavern making her as if her lungs were being squeezed. This place used to be a second home and now she didn't even want to step a foot inside. Eve kept close to Gabrielle and Jadxea, hoping to create something of a shield around them. She kept her eyes open and alert; the slightest movement from a patron, the most minute sign from Eli; she would know about it.

But the tavern went back about it's buisness, the trio a passing thought in their minds. There was no sign of the family owners anywhere to question or stop them. One dark and foreboding looking patron looked up at Eve as she passed, his eyes roaming over her solicitously. Eve had to smile at the mental image of him, and everyone else, seeing the three of them coming back downstairs some time from now, with the great Xena leading their way. Eve's heart ached slightly; she knew how Jadxea felt. With your mother by your side, you feel protected, invincible. Eve missed that feeling so terribly.

At the base of the stairs, Gabrielle stopped them. With an uneasy look from the stairs to the child, she found Eve's eager and questioning face. "She's so vulnerable," Gabrielle hugged Jadxea closer. "I don't think I can protect her from this."

Eve smiled sympathetically and quickly knelt to the little girl's level. "Xea," she used the girl's nickname for the first time, making her take notice, "I need you to take my hand and don't let go." Jadxea breathed, shifting, obviously uncomfortable with losing any contact with Gabrielle. "It's going to be okay. You just have to hold my hand. Remember what you mother told you earlier. You stay close to me, and you don't let go, no matter what happens." Jadxea, slowly and nervously, slid her arm out of her mother's protection and surrendered it to Eve. Eve took the little hand, holding it tight to give what comfort she could. "You don't let go," she affirmed and watched Jadxea nod. She looked up into Gabrielle's worry-worn face and sent as much hope and love as she could through her eyes. "Hope won't touch her. I swear."

Jadxea looked up at the adults, confused. But, the room at the top of the stairs caught her eyes and she felt some pull, some tug, that wasn't purely mental or physical. Without thinking, Jadxea began climbing the stairs, hardly noticing that Gabrielle and Eve had to catch up quickly in order to be sure that they didn't lose contact with her. Her mother made some sort of protest that was stopped by Eve's insistance that Jadxea had to be left to instinct. On the top step, the girl froze, staring at the door. She was suddenly nervous, almost afraid to enter the little room.

Eve stepped forward, ahead of Jadxea, and placed her hand on the doorknob. She looked back to the little girl, letting her take the lead. Only Jadxea knew what needed to be done and Eve waited for her signal. After what felt like forever, identical blue eyes met and the little girl nodded to her sister. They all watched the door swing open, waiting with baited breath as if something would jump out at them. But the room was empty, not even the wind blew through the window, and Jadxea pulled Gabrielle and Eve inside, confusion clouding her face.

"I don't understand," the door swung shut as Jadxea made it to the middle of the floor. "She was right here. Here!" Jadxea stomped her foot on the spot in frustration.

"She's still here," Eve assured, glancing around herself. "It's just a matter of reaching her." Eve's eyes fell on Jadxea and she bent to her level, holding tight to her hand. "Concentrate, Xea. Close your eyes." The girl did as she was told, and Eve looked up at Gabrielle intently, speaking to both mother and child. "Think of her. Think of her so hard that you can see her, smell her. So hard that you could reach out and touch her." Gabrielle closed her eyes tight and breathed hard. Eve did the same, and leaned close to Jadxea's ear. "Only the blood of her blood can bring her through from the other side," she whispered into the child's ear. "Can you see her?" The girl nodded. "What is she saying, Jadxea? What do we do?"

Jadxea wrinkled her brow and slowly shook her head. "She's not saying anything. Her hand is cut. She's bleeding."

Eve closed her eyes for a moment to steady herself and sighed. "Does she want you to take her hand?" Jadxea nodded, cringing away suddenly. Eve reached over and took hold of the girl's other wrist, pulling her hand free of her mother's grasp. Gabrielle's eyes flew open, but Eve met her gaze and reassured her with a look. She made sure Gabrielle's eyes were closed again before she pulled a small dagger out of her top. "Take a deep breath," she told Jadxea soothingly. The girl did as she was told, but flinched away when Eve made a small cut in her palm. "It's okay," Eve soothed. "It's all right." As soon as Jadxea was calm, she released the bleeding hand, and held the other little hand even tighter. "No matter what, Jadxea, you don't let go of me. No matter what happens." Jadxea nodded fervently. "Can you still see her?"

"Yes," Jadxea whispered.

"Take her hand," Eve told her, her stomach knotting up as the words escaped her lips.

The blood was dripping down her shaking hand as Jadxea reached out in front of herself slowly. For a long time she just held it there, her face screwing up in pain and concentration as minutes passed. Gabrielle opened her eyes, keeping her picture of Xena vivid in her mind, but watching her child with concern. Jadxea took a deep breath and held it, her nostrils flairing and her face tight with concentration.

"Eve," Gabrielle whispered, "maybe-"

Eve shook her head quickly and closed her eyes now, encouraging Gabrielle to do the same. "Concentrate," she whispered. "Like you could reach out and touch her," they breathed simultaneously, Eve grasping Jadxea's hand with her free one, adding her extra energy. "Eli..." she breathed her prayer.

There was silence while they focused, all of their eyes closed, breathing as one. Gabrielle could see Xena; clear and beautiful, dark hair flowing, ice-blue eyes piercing her soul, dark leather clinging to sleek curves. She stepped close to Gabrielle, her eyes fixed on her soulmate. Gabrielle held her breath as that dark, powerful woman bent into her, barely grazing her lips, and pressing her mouth to her ear.

_"I love you. Please forgive me, Gabrielle."_

Gabrielle released her breath, near to tears, shaking violently. That long awaited voice sent shivers down her spine. The words created a warmth in the pit of her stomach.

There was a piercing scream, suddenly, that filled the room. Gabrielle, Eve, and Jadxea's eyes flew open, shocked and trying to find who emitted the terrifying sound. They found a huddle on the floor, shaking and nude, curled up at Jadxea's feet. The child fell to her knees in front of the huddled mass and reached out to touch the soft yellow hair that spread wild over the tangled flesh.

Thinking fast, Gabrielle wrapped her arm across Jadxea's chest, pinning her free arm down and wrapping under the arm attatched to Eve. she pulled her child back away, holding her close. She fought Jadxea as the girl kicked and screamed to break free.

Slowly, shaking, the young blonde's head raised up off of her knees and green eyes met Eve's blue.

Eve looked between the young woman and Gabrielle. Slowly, she backed away, close to Jadxea who still clung tight to her hand.

"Hope?"


	10. Chapter 10

~Thank you for all of the feedback that you've given, and I hope you stick with my little labor of love to the end.

A couple people have asked me how to pronounce Jadxea's name, and here it is:

Jahd-zee-uh...(and then shortened to:) Zee-uh

Thank you all for everything! Enjoy the newest chapter!~

The blonde's head never moved, only her eyes shifted, taking in the room and it's occupants. She pulled her knees tighter to her chest, with no acknowledgement to her lack of clothing. "What happened?" a dark, throaty voice emerged from the little blonde. Her eyes shifted through the room, falling on each occupant in turn. She settled on Gabrielle, their eyes locking, making the latter squirm slightly. "Mother?"

Gabrielle shook, starting in the pit of her stomach, tightening her grip on Jadxea. The girl was still squirming and kicking, whining her annoyance and discomfort. "No," Gabrielle growled low in her chest and suddenly found herself unable to stop. "No! No, no, no!" Over and over, she nearly shouted, dragging Jadxea further back, pinning them against the door.

Eve watched, an odd calm washing over her. She felt Gabrielle pull both she and Jadxea back a few steps, but she watched Hope closely. The young woman cringed as Gabrielle yelled at her. Her green eyes went wider and then she tucked her face back into her knees.

"Let me go!" Jadxea cried, her voice nearly lost in her mother's panic. "Let go! She's afraid! Let me go! She's scared of you!" But Gabrielle just held her daughter tighter, using every ounce of her superior stength.

Hope clung to herself, true fear in her eyes. Eve watched her stare at Jadxea in something like longing. As frightened, shocked, and disappointed as Eve was, she couldn't shake that natural instinct that assured her that she was safe. Slowly, she sank down to the floor with Gabrielle and Jadxea, hardly letting her focus waiver from Hope.

"Gabrielle," Eve caught her attention, panic still gripping the older blonde, but quieting her outbursts. "I can't explain it, but... she won't hurt us," Eve spoke low and gently, contrasting the other two, making Hope take notice of her. Eve's nerves jumped at the young woman's sudden attention, but then that odd reassurance washed over her again. "She won't harm us, Gabrielle."

"No!" Gabrielle clutched Eve's arm with her free hand. "You don't know her, Eve! Keep away!" Her hand suddenly left Eve and a sai was drawn from her boot. She held it out, threateningly, as if she were fending off the young blonde who cowered away from her.

The door the three were propped against suddenly shook as a fist banged from the other side. A gruff male called out to them, "Is everything all right in here?"

Eve thought fast, clamping her hand over Gabrielle's mouth, pinning her still against the door, an apology to her little mother in her expression immediately. "We're fine!" Eve called back. "Just a little fall! But we're all right! Thank you!" The dark Elijian didn't release Gabrielle until the retreating footsteps disappeared.

Gabrielle's eyes were dark and angry by the time Eve slowly released her, the sai still held protectively out in front of them. She watched Eve, not wanting to listen to another lecture or speech about Eli and the value of life, but unable to chastize the views that she encouraged in her adopted daughter.

Knowing Gabrielle all too well, Eve bipassed the opening lecture altogether and simply began with, "Look at her." Gabrielle did, anger and resentment burning in her face, and the identical blonde hid from it. "She's terrified of you."

"Good," Gabrielle spat, and Hope flinched

"She's not going to hurt us, Gabrielle," Eve tried to sooth. "Put the weapon down." The sai never moved, still held level and strong in front of them.

"Mother..." Jadxea fussed, squirming in the tight grip that held her, "we saved her! What's the matter with you?"

"What?" Gabrielle caught her daughter's words, dreading what she guessed the child meant.

"Jadxea, the girl in your dream..." Eve watched the girl, "what did she look like?"

"Her!" Jadxea nodded to Hope, who was staring at the child, seemingly entranced by the girl. "She was younger, like me, but it was her."

"Oh Gods," Gabrielle stared wide-eyed at the huddled mass that was Hope, "she wasn't seeing Xena at all. You!" she suddenly yelled at the fightened young blonde. "You used her!" she pulled Jadxea close. "What do you want?" Hope shrank away, looking like she was trying to fold into herself or melt into the floor.

"Gabrielle, stop," Eve touched her arm and then climbed to her feet. "She's just as confused as we are." She still clung tight to Jadxea's hand, and when she tried to step toward Hope, she pulled the little girl with her.

"No!" Gabrielle pulled Jadxea back into her arms, yanking Eve back in turn. "Don't go near her!"

"If I get closer," Eve soothed, "I can see into her heart. I'll know her true purpose here."

"She'll kill you!" Gabrielle implored. "You don't know her! She's trying to trick you!"

"She won't harm me!" Eve insisted.

"No!" Gabrielle gripped her arm. "I won't let her touch you! I won't let her harm another of Xena's children! I won't have that on my conscience again!"

Eve breathed, attempting to calm herself, suddenly understanding the root of this woman's fears. "My brother's death was tragic," Eve acknowledged, "but it wasn't your fault." She turned and her eyes fell on the shivering, naked blonde who watched them. "And I don't think it was hers either. I don't know why, but I don't think that this is the same Hope who killed my brother."

"Eve..." Gabrielle warned as the woman began to take a step.

"Hope?" Jadxea looked into each of their faces in turn, finally settling on the young blonde. "My sister?" The tension of fear began dissolving from Hope's face as she locked eyes with the dark little girl. "You're my sister, aren't you?" Jadxea pushed herself up, attempting to force her mother's arms off of her. She clung to Eve, who helped to pull her away as best she could.

"Xea, no!" Gabrielle grasped at her. "You don't know..."

"I read the scrolls, Mother," Jadxea's clear, blue eyes focused on her. "I know." Slowly, Gabrielle shook her head, but Jadxea successfully pulled herself to her feet and moved close to Eve. She looked between both women and nodded, "I won't let go."

Before Gabrielle could say another word, Eve tucked Jadxea behind her and moved toward the young blonde who looked as if she was willing herself to be invisible. "Hope?" Eve called softly. Steely green eyes slid up to find Eve and the dark woman shivered slightly at the emptiness she found there. For a moment, she reconsidered what she was doing, but something encouraged her onward. "Do you know who we are?"

Hope's eyes slid to each face in the room in turn, evaluating each one. Slowly, she found her way back to Eve and nodded. But as soon as the Elijian knelt close to her, Hope untangled herself and began pushing and kicking herself back away, eventually coming in contact with the wall.

Jadxea immediately moved forward, trying to get in front of Eve, but the elder moved her back, silently informing her that it wasn't safe just yet. Instead, Eve moved in quickly, pulling the girl behind her, trapping Hope. She knelt close, making Hope squirm away. The little blonde drew her knees up to her chest for protection, tucking her face into the wall, wincing and whining in her fear. Slowly, Eve reached out, seeing Hope flinch and go rigid before she ever touched her, and placed a strong, practiced hand at the crook of the young blonde's neck and chest. The two were frozen there, Eve's eyes eventually fluttering closed, and Hope watching Eve's hand with wide and distrustful eyes.

"Eve?" Gabrielle called nervously when the moment had gone on much longer than she was comfortable with.

"She's pure," Eve's voice answered softly.

"What?" Gabrielle climbed to her feet and inched toward the group.

"There's nothing there," Eve explained. "Just... nothing. Like a newborn; she's a completely clean slate."

"It's a trick," Gabrielle immediately accused. "Eve... you can't trust her!"

"I don't, Gabrielle!" Eve snapped. "I trust myself," keeping contact with Hope, Eve turned her head and looked up at the identical blonde. "She can't lie to me. It's no trick. Whatever was inside of her, years ago, it's gone. She barely even has any memories. There's just... nothing."

"That's not possible," Gabrielle stepped back, even more distrustful now. She reached out and called to her child, "Jadxea, come away."

The little girl shook her lead, never looking at her mother. "I can't let go," she squeezed Eve's hand.

"Hope," Eve tried to capture the young woman's attention, but she wouldn't look away from the hand attatched to her bare skin. "Hope, how did you get here?" The blonde tried to shy away from Eve's hand as if it were some deadly insect. "Hope," Eve tried again, refusing to move her hand, "who brought you through?"

Her eyes never decreasing in size, shifted their focus to the dark little girl behind Eve. Gabrielle stepped forward protectively, but flinched when Hope's attention suddenly snapped up to her. Quickly, as if Gabrielle's attention were the catalyst, Hope began mumbling manically. "Only the blood of her blood... blood. Blood of her blood. Only then... redeem... redemption." Hope found little Jadxea's face, craning around Eve. "The blood of my blood. Blood... blood... you..."

"No!" Gabrielle jumped forward again, and again Hope's focus swung around to her.

"Lines," Hope mumbled. "Like lines of the Mehndi... forever... forever connected. Strands... lines of the Mehndi... twine- twins- twined... forever connected. Destiny!"

"Hope," Eve called gently, trying to stop her unnerving words, but stopped herself when the piercing green eyes found her next.

"Death... only then... only in the essence of death with the prophecy... the prophecy. Only in death... the child finds salvation. The essence! The essence of death!"

Quickly, Eve closed her eyes and searched Hope to find where she was getting her prophetic rambling. Without opening her eyes, Eve allowed everyone else to hear the information she was recieving. "It's... it's as if... like a memory. But... she can't remember it."

"She wasn't there," Gabrielle shook her head. "She wasn't alive for any of those prophecies."

"I know," Eve's concentration deepened. "She knows too. She knows that she shouldn't know any of this. But it's there... tucked away, but it's a part of her."

"Oh God," Gabrielle whispered, her fingers beginning to twitch with the instinct to be on the defensive, her hand tightening around one sai, "she's been following me."

"It's very possible," Eve opened her eyes, looking up at the small Amazon. "She's your child. There's no reason that, in death, she shouldn't follow you."

"But," Gabrielle shook her head, refusing the sweetness of that statement, "her father..."

"No," Eve immediately assured, "not at all. I can't find any trace of him... anywhere. There's only you."

"Eve?" Jadxea's little voice sounded from behind her.

Eve looked back and glanced between Hope and the little sister that clung true to her. With a deep breath, she pulled Jadxea out from behind her, allowing her to settle beside her instead. On her knees, Jadxea craned her head forward, locking eyes with the little blonde.

"Eve..." Gabrielle called nervously, but Eve held up a hand to stop her.

Slowly, Jadxea reached a hand out and lightly pushed a few locks of Hope's hair behind her ear. Gabrielle went rigid and ready, stepping forward, her sai pointed true to Hope when the twin blonde immediately responded to Jadxea's touch. She wrapped her arms tightly around Jadxea, tucking her face into the girl's neck. Hope pressed her shivering body against her little sister, rambling and sobbing unintelligably. Quickly, Eve reached up and pulled a blanket from the bed, wrapping it around Hope securely, rubbing the chill out of her skin.

Gabrielle stepped close, "I don't like this." She gritted her teeth as watering green eyes slid up to meet hers.

"She won't harm her," Eve informed, annoyed, but preoccupied with wrapping herself around Hope, sandwiching her between the sisters. "She doesn't even know what hurting someone means."

"She knows 'blood'," Gabrielle pursed her lips. "She knows 'death'."

"They're just words to her," Eve breathed heavily, trying to force her charge to calm down. "They're words that she once heard. It doesn't mean anything to her."

Gabrielle set her jaw, watching Hope with contempt, and spinning the sai so that the blade laid flat against her forearm. "You'll understand if I don't agree."

Eve looked up and watched Gabrielle back away from them, settling on the edge of the bed. Eve tucked herself into the embrace that she, Jadxea, and Hope made. She wrapped her free arm around both girls, her one hand still holding tight to Jadxea. She set her chin on Hope's shoulder, forcing her to breathe a little slower, but kept her focus on any changes she may find in the oddly clean soul that she held.

1

Fatigue had begun taking over Gabrielle's body and she laid in the bed, watching the huddle that her children made. She was trying to force her burning eyes to stay open; a fight that she was losing quickly. She closed her eyes for a moment, just to try to clear the stinging sensation.

_Blinking herself into clarity, Gabrielle found a dark face very close to her. It was no suprise to her, nor did it fill her with joy as that pleasantly smiling face usually did. Xena's head on the pillow beside her was just something she expected._

_A soft hand reached up, and Xena trailed the back of her hand along Gabrielle's cheek and then laced into her long, untamed hair. "So much anger, my gentle bard," Xena stroked her temple with her thumb._

_"Is it any wonder?" Gabrielle's tone was harsh, but her body couldn't help but respond to Xena's touch._

_"Are you so unhappy?" the warrior nuzzled her bard's nose lovingly. "You have so many people who love you. Isn't that enough?"_

_"Never!" Gabrielle insisted. "It'll never be enough without you." She caught Xena's lips in a quick kiss before she pulled away._

_"Don't be sad, little bard," Xena whispered. "I can't bear the idea of you being in pain."_

_"A bit late for that, isn't it?" Gabrielle grumbled miserably._

_Xena sighed, hot breath coursing over the little blonde's face. "There isn't much more that I can do for you. I want you to be happy, Gabrielle. Forgive me."_

_The words struck Gabrielle and she shook her head quickly, making Xena smooth out the fly-away strands. "It was you," Gabrielle's eyes were wide. "You tricked us into pulling Hope through."_

_Xena smiled warmly, tucking her face close to her soulmate's again. "I should know by now that you can find any false trail that I lay out."_

_"You sent Eve that vision of you and the toy lamb so that when Jadxea dreamed, we would think that they were both seeing you. You were the one who convinced Eve that it had to be Jadxea who brought you through from the other side," Gabrielle tilted into Xena's lingering touch. "Why? Why would you do that to me?"_

_"Oh..." Xena stroked the soft blonde hair, "my sweet Gabrielle... why did I ever teach you to be so mistrustful?" She set her forehead against Gabrielle's, closing her eyes, as if taking in the sensations of the moment. "Hope has been caught in limbo. She cannot ascend because of her deeds, and Lucifer can't claim her because Dahak has forsaken her."_

_"I don't understand," Gabrielle was getting oddly drowsy, but attributed it to the calming effect of Xena's touch._

_"The last time Hope was killed," Xena explained, "her father forsook her. He stripped her of her powers, her memories, anything connected to him. She had failed him too many times, and he was angry with her. So, she belonged to no one. She was a lost soul, wandering with no hope of salvation. Her spirit clung to you because you were the only person she remembered. You were the only connection she had to anything."_

_"But why bring her back to us?" Gabrielle sighed. "I don't trust her. I don't want Jadxea or Eve anywhere near her."_

_"Eve knows more about this realm than any mortal alive. Don't be so protective of her." Xena smiled, "I know... how hypocritical of me!" she rolled her eyes. "But it's true. Our daughter can take care of herself. And she's doing a beautiful job with Jadxea."_

_"But why?" Gabrielle implored._

_"Because," Xena began and then placed a quick, but fervent, kiss on Gabrielle's lips, "you are the last one. 'I must find redemption from the one I loved and hurt the most'. Do you think I've spent these years just waiting at your beck and call?" she teased. "Where I am, I was given a chance for redemption. In my death, the souls of Higuchi were saved, and in a spiritual state, I was able to find every living person I had ever harmed, orphaned, tormented, and I was able to make their lives just a little better. As something of a guardian, I could give back to these people in a way that I never could in life. But you, my love..." she played with a lock of blonde hair, "you were my last soul to pay back."_

_"No," Gabrielle whispered, "no, Xena, you gave me everything. There's nothing between us to be forgiven."_

_"Oh," Xena scoffed kindly, "there was so much that I took from you, that I thank the heavens, even now, that you stayed true to me for so long. But, no matter. Hope was lost and looking for some kind of compassion. You were lost, and in need of remembering the kind, warm woman that you always were. We're all searching for redemption, Gabrielle. But, some of us will find it in places that we never even dreamed of."_

_Gabrielle breathed, absorbing the information reluctantly. "So what now? You've given Hope to me... 'a clean slate', Eve says. What do I do with her?"_

_"What you were always meant to do with her; love her, care for her." Xena was suddenly intense, her eyes focused and fixed. "Protect her, Gabrielle. Protect her with everything in you. Don't let her be taken away from you again. Do you understand?"_

_Gabrielle nodded, even though she didn't. "And you? What happens to you if I'm the last one you needed redemption from?"_

_Xena shook her head. "I don't know."_

_"Is there no chance of saving you?" Gabrielle pleaded. "Maybe Eve could... you know, whatever Jadxea did for Hope?"_

_Xena brushed her dark hair away, smiling. "Eve is too... um... worldly. Even if it hadn't been Hope who was pulled through today, Eve couldn't have done it anyway. The person has to be completely pure. The blood must be pure, unstained by corruption." Xena looked over her shoulder suddenly and then back to Gabrielle. "I have to go."_

_"No!" Gabrielle clutched her lover's hair, pressing herself close. Quickly, she devoured her lips, claiming them, letting her hands roam over those strong dark shoulders. _

_Xena responded to the passionate kiss, running her fingers along the silky blonde locks and beyond, down to the small of the bard's back, where she clung desperately, pulling the small woman closer. But, the warrior felt herself being pulled away, and she broke the kiss in time to get her final words out. "There __is__ a way. The blood of my blood... my family, long forgotten." She grabbed Gabrielle's hair tight to impress the importance of her words, "Protect Hope! Don't let him take her from you again! Protect her!"_

_And then, there was nothing._


	11. Chapter 11

Gabrielle woke slowly, blinking and twisting in the light of the setting sun. She breathed in the combined smells of subtle must and the retreating aroma of the night's meal. Her gaze roamed the bedroom; a warm fire burning in the fireplace that cast an orange glw on the walls, the camping furs and blankets unpacked and laid out on the floor, the dark and light hair that mixed together as Jadxea and Hope slept on the make-shift bed, and Eve curled up under a blanket in the chair facing her young charges. Gabrielle's attention came back to her two daughters on the floor, curled in each other's arms. Beautiful black silk mixed with soft blonde as the girls' foreheads pressed together. From the back, Jadxea always looked like a tiny version of Xena, and with Hope wrapped so tenderly around her, Gabrielle was forced to smile at how beautiful she and Xena used to look together. But Hope was another story entirely. Every instinct told her to yank Jadxea out of those soft, pale arms and drive one of her sais through Hope's heart. But between Eve's assurance, Xena's insistance of protection, her rememberance of Callisto's purification, and her own maternal urge that always surged in her when Hope was meantioned, Gabrielle could only watch the little mirror image nuzzle her little sister close and sigh in her sleep.

"She fell asleep like that," Eve startled Gabrielle with a whisper. "She kept asking Jadxea why you were angry with her. Fell asleep watching you."

Gabrielle rubbed her eyes and sat up, reluctantly taking her eyes off of her sleeping girls. "Did you eat?"

"Gabrielle," Eve narrowed her eyes in concentration, "you're all that she really wants. Don't just walk away from her."

Gabrielle was taking apart her Egyptian wraps, hearing Eve, but not acknowledging her. "Make sure you all get some dinner before they put everything away." She began tieing and hooking together her doeskin Amazon outfit, fitting it onto herself, and instantly looking more comfortable.

"Gabrielle..."

"I'm going for a walk," she laced up her boots and strapped the sais into them. "If she needs it, there are extra clothes in my pack for Hope. I'll be back soon. Keep an eye on them, okay?"

Gabrielle was gone before Eve could protest again. She skipped down the stairs, observing the dining room, hoping that Eve got them dinner soon. She moved swiftly out the back entrance, thankful that no one saw her to question how she knew it was there. Sure, steady footsteps lead her around the edge of the village. She wasn't sure where she was going, she was just moving, wandering, following her feet as the red sun sank into the horizon.

The sun was gone by the time Gabrielle's wandering led her to a destination. It was no suprise to her to find herself at the masoleum. She entered the anti-chamber, feeling a bit strange. She had been in the family crypt only a handful of times, but, as Gabrielle recalled, it was always to collect Xena. The very first time, a little village girl came into the crypt to assure the great Warrior Princess that she would always be by her side. Gabrielle couldn't help but smile, proud in the knowledge that she had kept that promise to the end. The end. And even when she entered the masoleum the day before, it was no secret that she did so looking for a way to bring Xena back to her.

But now... this moment was different. she was there only for guidance, a place to collect her thoughts. There was no intent for anything other than clarity. In that moment, something struck true in her heart; she hadn't truely lost Xena. She had scoffed for years, in her bitterness, at her lover's assurance that she would always be in Gabrielle's heart, to keep and treasure there. Gabrielle had fought thos reassuring words, growing more angry and more bitter at her loss. She never understood how true Xena's words had been. She was always right there. She was Gabrielle's to call on at will, just as she had been in life. There were no arms to console her, or a body to love, but Xena was always in her mind, in her dreams, in her heart, to call upon and talk to at will.

There was a shuffle of feet from within the crypt and Gabrielle quickly drew her sais, raising them up close to her face for protection, the blades laying flat against her forearms. Slowly, silently, with the skill befitting an Amazon Queen, and Xena, the Warrior Princess' protege, Gabrielle crept against the rockface in close-to-pure blackness, just listening with her entire body. The scrape of rock and sand shifting unerfoot sounded again, and Gabrielle swung around the rock, catcing her opponent in the chest. She crossed her arms, and thus the sais, at his neck and pushed the thin frame against the wall, pinning him there.

"Ughnf!" he cried, the wind nearly knocked out of him. "Don't kill me!" he pleaded.

Two small candles illuminated the large chamber, casting shadows that were almost overpowering. Even being so close to him, Gabrielle had to squint to see who she had captured. "Tristan?" she released him with a thud as the rest of his weight hit the ground. "What are you doing in here?"

"I could ask you the same thing," he accused, rubbing his neck.

Gabrielle smirked and looked around herself, "It's a very long and exciting story."

Tristan shifted uncomfortably, wary of this woman's skill and strength, but forcing courage into his voice. "Well... you'd better get out of here. There's nothing for you to steal."

Gabrielle's gaze landed on him and she rolled her eyes, still smirking. "You know," she sank against the wall, balancing on her haunches, and surveying the tomb, "the first time I was here, I was no older than you." She sighed, knowing that Tristan was watching her, but not caring. "I'm truely in awe sometimes at how much has changed," her bright green eyes flashed back at the young man with an ironic smile, "and how little."

"What do you want?" Tristan watched her defensively.

Gabrielle smiled, her eyes ever moving to catch some detail that she hadn't memorized yet. "Nothing. For the first time... I don't want anything." She sighed as she climbed to her feet, wiping her hands clean, deciding not to take note of Tristan, who'd taken a few steps back away from her. "It's difficult, you know?" she conversed as if he could follow her trail of thought. "You spend your whole life convincing yourself that you were wrong. She was right! I know that, Tristan!" the young man watched her, baffled. "She was right, and I was wrong, and because of that she lost her son. And now... what am I supposed to do? She killed my best friend's child; what am I supposed to do? Forget it? Why not, when she apparently has? I can't forget that moment, though!" she faced Tristan again and he backed up some more. "You don't forget things like that, ever! That look... that aweful look on her face as she held him. I can't ever forget that!" Gabrielle folded her arms and leaned against the rock archway. "I never could stop loving her, though. Even after everything, she was still my child. I could never hate her, just as I could never hate Xea." Her eyes landed on the boy and she smiled at his wary expression, "Wait until _you_ have children, Tristan! You should know now, there is no such thing as a normal child. They're all destined for something. Some show signs of it early on, and some are late bloomers, but... they're all meant for something. And don't let my experience taint you," she added her friendly advice as if the young man had known her for years. "Hope was born to do Dahak's will. Eve was born to become The Messanger of Eli. Solan... he never lived to find his destiny. So, you can see why Jadxea terrifies me," she looked to Tristan for confirmation, but didn't wait for it. "She... she is like waiting for an explosion. Convinced, absolutely convinced, that she is going to be a warrior, and there's no talking her out of it. I work so hard to keep her away from that life, but the little glimpses she gets, when it's necessary, just fuels her! Xena would be having a fit if she were alive!" Tristan's eyes suddenly snapped open wide and he was glancing around nervously, but Gabrielle didn't bother noticing. "We both agreed; raise the children away from the violence. You know, for such a good idea, we've failed with every single one of our..." Gabrielle stopped when she noticed that Tristan had actually moved closer to her.

"What did you say?" the young man asked bravely. But Gabrielle glanced around, confused, seemingly tracing her train of thought back again. "You said 'Xena'. You said, 'if Xena were alive'," he watched her gape and blush in the dim light. Quickly, he ran to the end of the crypt, taking a candle with him, and lit the waxy wick that was already waiting by the beautiful blue urn.

Gabrielle followed him slowly, watching him carefully. When he reached out to touch the little clay pot, she couldn't help herself. She tensed and immediately rushed forward, her arms outstretched. "Don't touch her!" her hands froze protectively around the urn, her fingers not quite close enough to touch it.

Tristan stared at her, now completely facinated. "You knew her, didn't you?" he tried to question Gabrielle, but she was still too worried about that Japa-crafted pot. "Can you tell me about her? There's a story around the village that this tomb is cursed because of her. No one knows how she got here! Do you know?"

"Yes," Gabrielle answered, stoic and quiet again.

"Is it really cursed? Was she cursed?" the little blonde didn't answer him, so he breathed, quieting himself. "You knew her," the blonde nodded reverently. "Who are you?" Tristan watched her carefully.

Slowly, green glistening eyes raised to meet his. Her mouth was drawn tight, and her little frame seemed to grow to overpower him. "I am Queen Gabrielle of the Amazons," she began making her way around the pillar, chasing Tristan, who was backing away from her. "I am Gabrielle, Battling Bard of Potedia," she was coming around Cyrene's casket, backing him toward the entryway. "I am a follower of Eli. I am the mother of the daughter of Dahak. I am a murderer, a healer, a child, a sister, a widow, a peacemaker, a warrior," she had backed Tristan against the rock wall, and now impressed her words on him as if they had physical weight. "And I am the soulmate of Xena: Warrior Princess." She was leaned into Tristan, overpowering him with just her vigor. Slowly, ever so slowly, she sank back on her feet, her tearful eyes still trained on him. He leaned away, pressed against the wall, terrified of this woman who's mood changed with the wind. "And suddenly," she breathed heavily, "I don't feel much like talking."

Quickly, Gabrielle moved toward the exit to escape, but Tristan followed her, the darkness of the ante-chamber enveloping her quickly. "Wait!" he called, unsure if she was even still there. "Please! She was my aunt!"

There was silence. Tangible stillness in the dark.

"What did you say?" Gabrielle's dark, brooding voice broke through the dark. But, Tristan didn't dare repeat himself, and when the sound of sand and stone underfoot came closer, he held his breath. Gabrielle's outline soon appeared in the near darkness where she stopped and squared off with him. "Who are _you_?"

"T-Tristan of Athens..." he nervously tried to follow her lead, but found himself at a loss. "A-and Amphipolis. My family moved here when I was young. My grandfather... he grew up here in Amphipolis. We were living in Athens when he heard that they were rebuilding the village. He insisted that we move here and take care of the tavern. It's been in our family for generations. His mother owned it."

"Torris," Gabrielle interrupted with a whisper.

"You knew my grandfather?" Tristan lurched forward excitedly.

"Cyrene," at his confused face, Gabrielle continued. "Your grandfather's mother, your great-grandmother... her name was Cyrene." She breathed for a moment, taking him in. "You're Xena's great-nephew," she whispered hoarsely.

Tristan nodded silently, and then gulped in some more courage. "Grandfather used to tell me stories of a woman warrior in our family. He told me about her childhood impulsiveness, and how cool and calm she was as a seasoned warrior. Never her name, but always calling her, The Princess. He died a few seasons before that urn showed up. But, I knew that this was our family crypt... and the Princess connection..." the little blonde Amazon appeared to be crying and Tristan was lost as to how to console her without coming near her, so he just continued on. "I only found out that she was my aunt from my father, when I showed him the name on the pillar." Tristan went quiet. Gabrielle was mumbling something and he didn't catch it until the second time she repeated it.

"There is a way," she mumbled. "The blood of my blood. My family, long forgotten." Gabrielle's gaze fixed on him and she moved steadily into the light, the look in her eyes was nearly manic. "There is a way."

"Gabrielle...?" Tristan began nervously.

"It's you, Tristan! The blood of her blood! You're the only family she has left. You can bring her back! You can return her to me!" Gabrielle grasped his shoulders tightly, making him jump in fright. "You have to help me! You have to bring her back!"

"Let go of me!" Tristan fought, but she was much stronger.

"It's the only way! You are the only chance we have! Please, Tristan! I need her!"

"What is the matter with you? Let go!"

"No! No! I can't lose her again. I can't take even one more night!"

"She's dead!" Tristan screamed, not thinking, just shouting whatever would catch her attention, and it did. Gabrielle was still and she slowly released him. "You're crazy and she's dead! I don't even know why I tried to talk to you!" As soon as she had released him, Tristan moved out of her path and sprinted out of the masoleum, leaving a struck-still Gabrielle behind.

1

Just before the disturbance, Eve was handing the last piece of meat to Hope. Jadxea sat on her feet, combing and braiding the soft blonde hair in front of her. The strands fell easily though her fingers, just like her mother's. But, Jadxea took no note. In fact, she barely saw the resemblance, that others seemed to, between her mother and her sister. They were two entirely different people, with entirely different personalities. To Jadxea, Hope and Gabrielle were almost nothing alike. Strangely, though, her connection with Hope was not like the one with Eve. It was not a natural magnet, as if they had always missed each other, but more of a protective instinct. Jadxea felt responcible for her much-older sibling. The other world had released Hope to her, and the child just instinctually saw it as her job to care for this lost soul who'd been given to her. She didn't know, but Eve noticed the change in little Jadxea, admiring that beautiful trait that the girl so obviously inherited from Gabrielle. And, slowly, sweetly, Jadxea worked her fingers into the thick yellow hair that she deemed so precious to her.

Eve watched the girls, seeing how they moved so easily together, smiling and laughing at nothing really. She wanted to discount herself from the scene, but simply couldn't. She had to imagine the angels peering down on them, watching the three sisters; two dark, one light, spread out on the floor of Xena's room, in Cyrene's tavern; laughing, caring, playing together. Xena and Gabrielle's girls; their lives, their history, forever bound together by these two women. Eve couldn't help but wonder, was Xena somewhere, maybe in the room, watching them? What did she, Hope, and Jadxea look like to her in that moment?

Eve handed Hope the last piece of chicken on their dinner platter and picked up the candle with the other hand, passing it in front of the young blonde's eyes. Hope blinked hard, confirming her reflexes to Eve, and she peered closer to examine Hope's eyes for any abnormalities or imperfections.

That was when quick, crashing footsteps pounded their way up the tavern stairs and the solid wooden door slammed open. Gabrielle stood in the doorway, breathing hard and gripping the handles of her sais so tightly that her knuckles were white. It was quickly evident to Eve that Gabrielle didn't think the three of them were as beautiful as she had hoped. But not quick enough. Before Eve could react, Gabrielle had grabbed Hope by the straps of her own Amazon outfit and pulled the bewildered young woman to her feet, pushing her hard into the door that had swung closed behind her. By the time Eve and Jadxea had jumped to their feet, Gabrielle had her forearm pressed against Hope's throat, pinning the identical blonde where she was frozen in terror.

"Gabrielle, what are you doing?" Eve yelled at her, rushing forward.

But the small warrior was much faster and she threw her free arm out, the sai spinning as if it had a mind of it's own. Gabrielle gripped it again, the point now aimed boldly at Eve's chest, and the younger woman froze in shock. Gabrielle pushed hard on Hope's windpipe, making the young woman wince and whine.

"Gabrielle!" Eve attempted, but was wary of the dagger held precisely at her heart.

"Mother!" Jadxea cried. "Eve, stop her! Please!"

It was only then, as Gabrielle turned, that Eve saw the tears falling mercilessly from the stormy green eyes, and the flushed face that now stared at Eve as if the world had just crashed down around them. Eve put her hand out, intending to push the sai gently out of her way, but thought twice about touching the dagger. "Gabrielle," she spoke slowly and quietly, "what are you doing?"

"I want answers!" the Amazon Queen sobbed, both arms held strong, stretched in opposite directions. She turned back to Hope, her eyes narrowing, but the contempt held there before was replaced by the uptmost heartache. "Why you?" she whispered and Hope gulped for air under Gabrielle's grasp. "Why wasn't it _her_? Why do you get a second chance and she doesn't? Why?"

Jadxea stepped forward, but Eve gave the girl a sharp look and waived her back a few steps. Slowly, she stepped around Gabrielle's outstretched arm, coming slowly behind her little mother, completely aware that Gabrielle was keen to her every move.

"Who are you?" Gabrielle accused and Hope tried to shake her head, but the elder's grip was too tight. "Prove it to me," her tearful eyes narrowed. "Prove to me that you don't know what it's like to strangle a man with his own medallion chain. Prove that you don't know how to drive a sword into a good man's, a good _father's_, chest just because he got in the way. I want you to look me in the eye and tell me the truth for once in your whole damned existence," Gabrielle's whole body was shaking as she peered deep into the empty eyes that she didn't really expect to be so clean. "Tell me that you've never even heard of a sweet, innocent little boy named Solan."

Eve moved quickly and precisely, grabbing Gabrielle's still-outstretched wrist and elbow to pull her arm and lock it behind her back. But Gabrielle was stronger and more practiced. As soon as Eve took hold of her wrist, she wrenched her arm upward, breaking Eve's grasp, and windmilling her own arm up and around to place the point of the dagger under Hope's chin.

"Mother," Jadxea cried, "stop! She wasn't doing anything!"

"Prove it!" Gabrielle yelled. "Show me that you don't understand, remember, acknowledge anything that I'm saying to you! Prove to me that your life is worth so much more than Xena's! Please!"

"Gabrielle," Eve tried. "That's not fair! Let her go!"

"Water," Hope choked, and Eve and Jadxea jumped. "I-I remember water. Lots of water..."

"Oooh," Gabrielle shook her head, tightening her grip, "you're going to have to do better than that, little girl! I've heard that line once too many."

"Gabrielle!"

"I- I cried and I cried," Hope struggled, "you never came. There... there..." she stuttered, squeezing her eyes shut to focus herself, "there is nothing else. Y-you... just you." Hope opened her eyes and sparkling green met sparkling green. There was something about those eyes, as Gabrielle examined them severely. They were empty, yes, but not as if they were devoid of intelligence. No, Hope was still smart. She knew what was happening in the here and now, and she was aware of the possibility of the future. What she lacked was the experience, the inexplicable knowledge to justify all of that intelligence. In her former life, that was the malevolence of Hope that Gabrielle had to learn, the hard way, to see in her daughter's eyes. But now, it was gone. Even as a young child, and as far back as infancy, Gabrielle had seen that strange understanding, that flash of unjustified knowledge, in her child's eyes. There was none of that now. Slowly, the truely innocent face contorted into heartbreaking concentration, and Hope bravely raised a hand, tracing the edges of Gabrielle's eyes, nose, and mouth, sweetly. "There is just you," she insisted.

Quickly, Gabrielle released Hope, and the young blonde slumped against her mother. Gabrielle braced her against her own body, wrapping strong, sure arms around her lost child and sinking to the floor. Hope clung to Gabrielle, both crying and holding each other as Gabrielle half-craddled her daughter, whispering, "It's okay! I'm here now! I've got you!" over and over.

"Gabrielle?" Eve inched forward, still wary of the sai that was now wrapped around Hope protectively.

Gabrielle raised her eyes to the piercing baby-blues that she knew so well. Her face was still tucked into Hope's hair and she occationally kissed the top of her head. "You're not the only one left, Eve. You have a cousin. Your uncle Torris' son." Eve sank to the floor in front of Gabrielle eagerly. "He's Tristan's father. Eve," she reached out and gripped the dark woman's arm, smiling and still crying, "he's been here the whole time. He can save her. He can do it. I know he can!"

Suddenly, Jadxea was on the floor beside Eve, examining Gabrielle and Hope in curious excitement. "Does this mean that we're going to save Xena?"

Gabrielle gave her daughter a half-smile and touched the girl's cheek with her fingertips. "You know, don't you?"

Jadxea smiled and nodded reluctantly. "Eyes as blue as the sky. Hair like a raven in the sun. The greatest warrior the world ever knew." Jadxea shrugged, "It was all in the scrolls."

"Are you angry with me?" Gabrielle asked, rocking Hope lightly.

Jadxea tucked her smile tight into the corners of her mouth and shook her head, "No. It just means that you can't send me back to the Amazons. When we bring her through... I want to be here waiting to meet her."

Gabrielle gasped, trying and failing to hold back the sob that tore through her the moment those sweet words reached her ears. She traced her thumb along Jadxea's jawline, solidifying how much she loved her child. She smiled as Eve wrapped her arm around her little sister, pulling her into her side in a tight embrace. Gabrielle held Hope tighter and watched her two other girls in adoration. After a few moments of awe-inspiring affirmation, Gabrielle, Eve, and Jadxea suddenly, simultaneously went serious. They watched each other, their jaws setting tight and determined. Gabrielle sighed and nodded, "Tristan!"


	12. Chapter 12

**To my lovely readers: I'm so sorry this chapter has taken me so long. As you read, you'll understand how I wanted all of this to be just right, and how I wanted it to say everything that I saw in my head. I hope you enjoy how it turned out.**

Eve was trying desperately to not think about what they were about to do. Gabrielle could think of nothing else, and refused to allow distraction. Eve could see it all behind her eyes. Even when she sat still for half of a minute at a time, those green eyes were darting back and forth; planning, organizing, going over every variable and possible hole in their plan. Attention to detail was something that was trained into Gabrielle; a blessing and a curse in Eve's opinion. But Eve didn't know the little Potedian farmgirl who was born with the instinct to plan and weigh the pros and cons, her training had only enhanced that natural talent.

Jadxea sat up in the little bed, watching her mother move about the room out of the corner of her eye. Hope was beside her, her head resting on her little sister's shoulder and her eyes strangely distant. "But I want to come with you!" Jadxea argued with Eve, who sat at her feet. "Please let me come! I've been waiting my whole life to meet her! Please?"

"I'm sorry, Xea," Eve smiled, a possitive face amid the heavy focus that Gabrielle's energy gave off in the room. "We need you here. You need to look after Hope."

"Mother," Jadxea pleaded in her last effort.

"Believe me, Jadxea," Gabrielle was bent over the fireplace, the faded dragon tattoo on her back strangely lit in the firelight, and looking as if the tattoo itself were speaking, "if there were ever a time to not argue with me, this is it."

"We won't be long," Eve assured, deliberately countering Gabrielle's dark tone. "You'll be the most help just staying here and keeping quiet. Maybe you could tell Hope a story. I'll bet you're as good as your mother when it comes to stories," she attempted enthusiasm.

Jadxea sighed dejectedly, her gaze straying from Eve and following Gabrielle instead. Eve glanced back over her shoulder, not really seeing the little blonde, but knowing her every movement. Her attention came back to Jadxea and she touched the girl's leg reassuringly.

"Eve..." that rough determined voice sounded behind her, "it's time."

Eve breathed deeply and quickly leaned forward to kiss both Jadxea and Hope's foreheads. "You stay right here, okay? Bolt the door behind us." She climbed off the bed and glanced nervously around herself. Quickly, Eve grabbed her pack and made for the door.

Slowly, Gabrielle's dark and focused eyes met Jadxea's. Her jaw set, and something else entirely being played out in her mind, Gabrielle sent a strong and clear message to her youngest. She was in charge now. She had to be as brave and strong as she could possibly be now. For these few moments, little Jadxea would have to be the warrior that she'd always dreamed of. "You take care of your sister, Jadxea," Gabrielle gave her a stiff, single nod.

Staring at her hero of a mother, her expression holding intimidation, inspiration, and awe all at once, Jadxea nodded her agreement. She followed them out, bolting the door as she was told, and then raced to the window, watching the courtyard to see them come out. But they didn't. The courtyard was still and quiet and dark. A head was suddenly resting heavily on her shoulder, brilliant golden hair cascading down her arm and chest.

"Jadxea?" Hope's oddly throaty voice called out. "_Would_ you tell me a story? I don't remember the last time I heard a story. I remember voices..." Hope's voice began to drift, dreamily. "Were they stories...?"

Jadxea looked solemnly at her sister, a strange discomfort making her shiver. The bright green, empty eyes staring back, unnerved her. But it was more pity than fear. She knew what her sister used to be... but, what she was now... it was almost worse. Jadxea set her head against the blonde's, her dark hair mixing effortlessly, and sighed, "Yes, Hope, I'll tell you a story." She cast one more sad look out into the dark courtyard before turning away and settling in front of the fire. "An old one, or one of Mother's?"

1

Gabrielle led with Eve nervously following. The tavern was dark and still, what few lodgers and patrons remained were tucked away for the night, leaving the familiar tavern in haunting stillness. Quiet was key, and Eve knew that; but it still unnerved her to notice that neither Gabrielle's, nor her own, footsteps made a sound as they moved through the dark hallways. It was as if they themselves were ghosts, making their way around without a sound, the world seemingly unaware of their existance.

At their destination, Gabrielle glanced back at Eve. The younger woman gave a nervous and stiff nod. Eve wasn't sure if she agreed with what they were about to do, but an unexplainable urge compelled her onward. Gabrielle took a cleansing breath, and placed a steady hand on the latch to the heavy door that they stood in front of. Switfly, and without a sound, the latch was undone and the two women had slipped inside. Moonlight streamed through the open window, and fell conveniently across the small, single bed that they sought. Hecate was on their side tonight. Gabrielle smiled inwardly; old religions die hard.

Gabrielle and Eve mirrored each other, one on each side of the bed. Eve watched her little blonde mother with unease, as Gabrielle coldly gazed down at the figure curled up in the bed. She lifted her eyes to meet Eve's, and the younger saw more determination there than ever before. Gabrielle nodded and crouched, bending over the figure, lithe and ready for anything.

Tentatively, Eve reached out and touched the warm arm. "Tristan," she whispered, "Tristan, wake up."

Tristan rolled onto his back, and groggily opened his eyes. In a split second, he had taken in the shape of Gabrielle's face and tried to bolt straight up from the bed.

But, Gabrielle was faster, and her hand was clamped over his mouth before he could emit anything of a sound. She pushed Tristan back down into the bed, one hand over his mouth, the other across his chest to hold him still. "Now listen," she hissed, low and menacing, "you can help us... and you're going to."

Tristan squirmed, trying to fight the stong hold, and still attempting speech. His frantic eyes drifted to Eve's worried face in the moonlight and he immediately appealed to her.

"No, no!" Gabrielle whispered in his ear. "She's with me on this. Now, you keep still and cooperate, and this will be a lot less messy and difficult for both of us."

Still Tristan begged Eve with his eyes, desperately trying to free himself from Gabrielle's grip, that she was now struggling with. "Gabrielle," Eve whispered, "this isn't right. We can't force him."

Gabrielle's teeth were clenched and her eyes had fire in them when they met Eve's. "Don't do this," she shook her head warningly. "Don't do this to me now."

"Look," Eve pleaded, desperate and nervous, "I don't know very much about this, but I know that he has to do this voluntarily. Of that much I'm sure. It can't be forced."

Teeth clenched, jaw set, and nostrils flairing, Gabrielle watched Eve carefully, studying her logical plea. Her stormy gaze roamed back to Tristan, still struggling; frightened and angry. Slowly, ever-so-slowly, she released him, moving to stand up straight, but looking away.

Tristan pushed himself up to sitting, rubbing his chest, and staring at Gabrielle in terror. Slowly, he found his way to Eve and nodded his thanks to her, which she gave no responce to.

"Gabrielle," Eve tried to soothe, "she has found her redemption. Let her go. Maybe... maybe she just wasn't meant to come back." There was silence as all of this sunk into the room.

Gabrielle swallowed hard, glancing around the floor, a tear wetting one of the boards. Finally, quickly, she took a deep breath and growled, "No!" Like lightening, she lunged at Tristan, her fingers finding the exact positioning, and pressed hard on either sides of the young man's neck.

"Gabrielle!" Eve cried out, horrified.

But Gabrielle was leaned menacingly over a gasping, choking Tristan. "I'd suggest you don't struggle. The blood to your brain has been cut off and you have 30 seconds, maximum. If you fight it, you'll be dead faster. Give in... 'cooperate', if you will, and I might just be persuaded to not leave this room and forget all about you."

"Gabrielle!" Eve whispered hoarsely, frantically searching for a way to relieve Tristan.

"Xena never let me go! She never gave up on me!" Gabrielle seemed to be speaking to both, but her eyes were pinned on Tristan. "And for one moment, in an instant, she convinced me to give up on her. Not again. Not ever again. I won't lose her again." She swallowed and moved closer, her focus now entirely on Tristan. "Now, will you help us?" she asked slowly and delicately. Tristan barely thought about it before nodding furiously. He made a noise that sounded like 'yes' while he gasped and choked, clutching at his neck. "Good," Gabrielle reached out and released the pinch expertly, standing and breathing deeply as Tristan sucked in air and coughed. She heard Eve fuss over him, but that wasn't her focus at the moment. Instead, she took a rough hold of Tristan's arm, pulling him sharply upright. "You might want to put some clothes on. We're going for a walk."

1

Wrapped in blankets in front of the fireplace, Jadxea played with the blonde hair that spread over her lap and she spoke in soft, sweet tones.

_"A long time ago, all people had two heads, four arms, and four legs. But then, the Gods threw down thunderbolts..."_

1

Gabrielle and Eve each kept a hold on each of Tristan's arms. Eve's hold was gentle, but secure, to steady Tristan's balance and steps. Gabrielle's was rougher, leading them into the dark and cold masoleum. She lit a torch, some of the candles still burning from the earlier encounter, and led them deeper, pulling Tristan to the first casket.

"Lyceus," she declared, "your grandfather's brother. He died fighting to protect this village. He loved this place and his family more than anything." Tristan watched Gabrielle, interested, but confused and afraid. His body was like a wooden plank as she pulled him around to the blackened and foreboding second casket. "Cyrene; you grandfather's mother. She was like a second mother to me. she cared about everyone. She loved everyone. She was also burned as a witch because no one was here to defend her. Not Lyceus, not Xena, not me..." her cold, green eyes fixed on Tristan, "not even Torris, who was the only one left to care."

"Gabrielle," Eve chastized softly, "that's not Tristan's fault. You can't blame him for Grandmother's death."

"No," Gabrielle agreed, "but I can break that illusion in his mind. I thought once that Torris might have the same bravery, the same heart, as his sister, his brother, his mother. But, according to you, Tristan, Torris hid in Athens while his mother was tormented and murdered. He was no hero."

"Well," Tristan was quick to defend, but his voice shook when he realized that he was actually about to argue with this great warrior, "where were you, then? Why didn't you defend her?"

Without a word, Gabrielle pulled him over to a lone, familiar urn. She watched the urn as she told the story, her voice holding such regret that Eve very nearly wept. "Eve was a baby. We were trying to go into hiding. Something went wrong. Twenty-five years," she sighed angrily, "just gone. Our parents, our friends," she ventured a tearful look into the dark woman's eyes, "our little girl's childhood. It was just... gone."

Quickly, a little too quickly, causing a headrush that he ignored, Tristan spun around to face Eve. "You're The Princess' daughter!"

Eve couldn't help but giggle and nod. "Xena was my mother," she touched his shoulder sweetly. "It's nice to finally meet you, Tristan."

1

_"But then, the Gods threw down thunderbolts and split everyone in two. Each person now had one head, and only two legs. But, the seperation left them with a desperate yearning to find their other half."_

1

"I still don't understand what I'm doing," Tristan glanced around himself nervously. He shifted uncomfortably where he sat, the floor of the masoleum being cold and hard.

"Just relax," Eve instructed, her legs crossed in front of her in traditional meditation. "Have you ever studied Eli teachings? This is a very similar experience."

Tristan bit his lip and let his gaze roam, eventually falling on Gabrielle, who paced, flipping her sais in her hands habitually. she was incredibly focused, but not with anything or anyone in the shadowy chamber. There was something so strange about this woman. Tristan couldn't pin-point it, but it was as if she was involved in something that she didn't even believe in. He shook it off; he didn't like the little blonde warrior, and he wasn't doing this for her. This was for Eve. for family. He focused back on his cousin, suddenly realizing the shape of her nose, and the cut of her jaw, so like his father and grandfather's.

"Take my hand," Eve instructed, "and reach out to the side as if there were someone beside you, and you could just take her hand." Tristand did as he was told, shaking and uncertain. Gabrielle paced to the right of them. "Try not to be nervous," Eve smiled. "Take a deep breath. Try to clear your mind." He did, attempting to focus completely on Eve. "Close your eyes, Tristan. It helps." Eve watched him do so, quickly, and slowly she closed her own, attempting focus. "Relax, breathe, and try not to think," Eve instructed melodically. Footsteps shuffled beside the meditating pair. Back and forth... incesantly.

Tristan opened his eyes, surrendering himself to the inability to relax within Gabrielle's nervous cloud of energy. "Gabrielle," Eve had opened her eyes as well and was addressing the elder woman with restrained annoyance, "why don't you join us?"

"I can't sit," Gabrielle insisted curtly.

"Can you at least stand still? You're not helping anyone right now." Eve made a point to catch Gabrielle's eyes, "We need your help, Gabrielle."

The blonde Amazon froze and stared down at Eve enigmatically. "I can't," she whispered.

"Gabrielle," Eve's tone was soft and comforting, "it's going to work this time. You have to trust."

"You don't know that," she countered.

"I know that all of this is happening for a reason. I know that we have to try. Please, Gabrielle?" But the petite woman looked away. "Why do you, who knew him better than anyone, doubt Eli now? He has always favored you and mother. Why would he turn his back on you now?"

"Because he took her," Gabrielle turned back. "Without a second thought. He just let her leave me..."

"It wasn't his decision to make. And, even if he had tried to stop her, she wouldn't have let him, and you know that." Eve smiled and held her free hand out to her second mother."But, none of that matters now. We're going to save her. And we need your help."

Slowly, swallowing hard, and hesitating more than twice, Gabrielle finally took Eve's hand, settling next to her, across from Tristan. She grimaced at Eve, and took a deep breath as she closed her eyes.

Eve nodded to Tristan, and the pair closed their eyes as well. "Breathe deeply, clear your mind," Eve coaxed. "Now, think of her. A clear picture in your mind. See her so clearly that it's as if you could reach out and touch her."

"I- I don't see her," Tristan shook his head nervously.

"Concentrate," Eve squeezed his hand. "Remember that day in the tavern when she spoke to you. See that day in your mind. See her in front of you, exactly what she looked like. Exactly!"

"She was like the sun on a cold day," Gabrielle whispered reverently, shocking the other two slightly, but they quickly fell into the words. "She radiated a warmth that not many were close enough to feel. But, if you were close, just close enough to her, you could feel it... surrounding you... protecting you."

All three of them smiled, a warmth suddenly overcoming the chill set into any skin exposed to the night air.

"She gave everything to the people she loved. Anything we needed, she never hesitated. She broke through the gates of Hell for me..."

"She gave up twenty-five years of her life for me..."

"She left a legacy for me..."

And then a soft, longing whisper escaped Gabrielle, though it may as well have come from all three of them.

"Xena..."

A dark, pitched scream broke the meditation, and all three gasped, immediately opening their eyes. Tristan panicked, his eyes not adjusting fast enough to identify the strange hand clinging to him suddenly. Eve could only gape at the naked, shivering form before her. Gabrielle was terrified to look down at the weight suddenly heavy in her lap. But suddenly there was gasping and pained cries coming from the bundle of flesh.

Gabrielle cautiously looked down at her lap and pulled the straight, shinning, dark hair away from what seemed to be the figure's face. Clear, blue eyes rolled and blinked, finding their way up to the person cradling her.

"Gabrielle?" Xena called, choking on her inhale.

Gabrielle released her breath, tears flowing freely as she gathered the dark, naked woman into her arms. "Is it you?" she kissed the woman's forehead. "Is it really you?"

A shaking hand reached up, long, cold fingers cupping the pale cheek above her. "Told you I'd find you again," Xena tried to smile.

Gabrielle sobbed openly, repeatedly kissing the palm that she held against her cheek. She rocked her lost love, the world seeming to melt away until Eve suddenly threw a blanket over the shivering woman and crawled in close to the pair.

"Mother?" Eve ventured, reaching out to touch Xena's free hand.

Groggily, still forcing her breathing, Xena's eyes roamed to the identical blues gazing down at her. "Evey," she whispered, "my baby!"

Eve couldn't, and wouldn't, stop the tears that fell mercilessly as she tucked in closer, and pulled the hand she held to her chest. "Oh Mother," she sobbed, "I missed you so much."

Xena attempted a smile for her too, the struggle for breath making it nearly impossible to speak. The shaking was easing as the blanket and Gabrielle's attention warmed her skin. With effort, Xena's gaze found the young man staring, amazed at the crying, smiling trio. "Tristan," she whispered, her breath easing, and his eyes going very wide, "thank you."

Young Tristan nodded, shifting uncomfortably, and staring in utter awe as the dark warrior's attention came back to Gabrielle, who held her tight; the blonde woman's testiment of love never ceasing.

1

_"But the seperation left them with a desperate yearning to find their other half. Because they each shared the same soul. And ever since then, all people spend their lives searching for the other half of their soul."_

The story ended and Jadxea pulled the soft blonde hair away from her sister's face. Hope was staring deeply into the fire, as if she could see the story in it's flames. Curiously, Jadxea turned her attention to the fire as well. What was helpless little Hope seeing in the dancing orange, yellow, and red lights? She stared for a long time, examining it closely.

For a moment, just a split-second, Jadxea swore that the fire surged all on it's own, as it would if she had put another log on. She was shaken a bit by it, attempting to explain it away when there were suddenly soft, distant voices drifting through the open window.

**~Side note; this isn't for certain, but I would like to warn my readers that, from now on, I may be very graphic in my depiction of the love between Xena and Gabrielle. For some of you who may be more sensitive to such subject matter, please feel free to consider this the end of the story.**

**However, for the more adventurous among you, I look forward to hearing your thoughts on the upcoming chapters!**

**~many thanks, **

**Catherine Maya**


	13. Chapter 13

_Here's a nice, long chapter to last everyone through the holidays._

_I hope you've all enjoyed yourselves so far, and I'm excited to keep this story moving in the new year._

_Disclaimer: This chapter does involve an explicite depiction of love between our heroines. If this is not to your tastes... honestly, you probibly shouldn't have even made it this far._

* * *

Distinct footsteps sounded up the stairs, just beyond the door, and Jadxea held her breath. A thousand questions raced through her clever little mind. A million desperate impulses were stiffled. She waited. If all went as planned, Xena would be coming through that door. Jadxea's heart lept into her throat. The excitement was boiling in her blood. Her entire life had been spent hearing of this great warrior. Hours of inspiring stories of heroic deeds. Jadxea had dreamt of becoming this person since she could remember.

There was a soft knock on the door, and both Jadxea and Hope jumped. Swallowing hard, Jadxea tried to stop her shaking as she climbed to her feet and forced herself to move toward the door. She hardly had the strength to undo the bolt, and she didn't even try to open the door. She could only stand there, shivering in her nervous excitement. The door was pushed open gently, and a lone figure stood, gazing down at the sisters.

"Jadxea, I need you and Hope to gather your things. We're going to sleep across the hall."

It was Eve. Her voice was low and strangely calm. There were tear stains all down her cheeks, and her voice hitched when she spoke. Jadxea furrowed her brow in disappointment and confusion. Her body seemed to be breaking down; her muscles releasing their tension one by one as she realized that the great warrior was nowhere to be found.

"What?" Jadxea tried to see around Eve. "What's going on?"

"Just get your things together," Eve instructed, and then looked past the child. "You too, Hope. We're just going across the hall."

"But," Jadxea glanced around, "what happened?" She heard Hope shuffling around behind her. "Did you save her? Where's mother?"

Eve spun the little girl around and led her into the room, steering her toward the belongings to be collected. "Help your sister, Jadxea. Come on, we're clearing out."

"But I don't understand," the dark little girl argued as she rolled up two stray scrolls and stuffed them back into their sack. "Eve... where's mother?"

Footsteps sounded again and Jadxea stopped what she was doing, turning with Eve to watch the two linked figures make their way up the stairs, slowly. The little girl's breath caught in her throat as a head of dark hair, 'like a raven in the sun', was lit in the firelight. Jadxea could see a tired, but strong body leaned against Gabrielle's; 'strong in every sense of the word'. And slowly, heavy-lidded eyes, 'so blue that they matched the sky on a clear day', rose to meet hers. Jadxea couldn't move. She watched as the great warrior shifted her weight and leaned against the doorframe. Slowly, when it was obvious the girl was unable to perform any task, the warrior gave her a full smile and stared intently into those identical blue eyes.

"Hey there, kid," Xena spoke low and affectionately, "I heard you've been looking for me."

Jadxea moved slowly out of Eve's grasp, walking toward her hero by some will that wasn't wholely her own. It only took her a few paces, but it seemed like forever as she gazed up at this woman who seemed to make up her whole life.

"This is Xena," Gabrielle's unfamiliarly sweet and tearful voice broke through the child's haze. "Xena," her voice hitched with a hidden sob, "this is my daughter, Jadxea."

Xena held out her hand to the girl, a smile still insisting on her lips, unable to be smoothed away. "I have been waiting a very long time to meet you."

Very slowly, in something that looked like a combonation of awe and terror, Jadxea reached up and took Xena's offered hand. Her heart was beating hard in her chest as she grasped that large, warm hand tightly. she couldn't move, she couldn't speak, she could only stare up at Xena and study every shift and possible change in her expression.

Xena's eyes slid sweetly to Gabrielle and then back to the child in front of her. "Your daughter seems to be completely speechless. Are you sure she's yours?"

"No," Gabrielle whispered softly, lovingly, lacing her fingers into Xena's free hand, "there have been many days when I've been absolutely convinced that she's yours."

"Jadxea," Eve called, wiping fresh tears away from her eyes, "sweetheart, would you help Hope carry our things over to the new room, please?"

Reluctantly, Jadxea looked back and found her blonde sister. Hope's arms were ladden with heavy blankets, and each shoulder held a strap of a pack. But none of this seemed to bother her. Instead, she was frozen, staring wide-eyes at Xena. She wasn't afraid, but her expression held some strange, knowing caution. Jadxea looked back and found Xena, not only still holding her hand tighly, but also staring back at Hope. There was an odd, unreadable look in Xena's eyes. A small amount of pity, fear, and uncontrolable anger all mixed together, along with this strong embracing recognition. Jadxea could see her mother, who watched both Xena and Hope cautiously. The tension hung in the air, thick, and nearly impenetrable.

"Xea," Gabrielle spoke softly, her tone holding an odd sweetness and musicality that Jadxea wasn't used to hearing, "please go and help your sister."

Jadxea nodded slowly, but gazed up at Xena when she realized that the warrior still had a tight grip on her hand. She glanced back at Hope, and then found Xena again, their unwaivering eye contact making her stomach knot up. Quickly, her focus shifted to Gabrielle and Eve, pleadingly.

"Xena," Gabrielle called, lightly squeezing the hand that she clung to.

The dark warrior's attention snapped to the little blonde beside her, a longing and loving expression replacing the previous instantaniously. The two seemed to speak to each other without words, and Jadxea was amazed to find such a look on her mother's face. It wasn't that Gabrielle had never shown love. Jadxea knew the look of true, pure love that Gabrielle had for her. She knew the affectionate look Gabrielle gave her horse. She especially knew the look on her mother's face when she used to descibe Jadxea's 'father'. But even that look was surpassed by this expression of love that Gabrielle wore now. It was almost unrecognizable, it was so deep. Jadxea had no choice but to watch it, in awe.

Suddenly, Xena glanced back at Hope; that strange, wary expression coming back in an instant. And then, she smiled down at Jadxea, taking in every inch of the child. Memorizing every hair, every line, every unconscious twitch of every muscle. "We should get some sleep. There's a lot of catching up to do tomorrow." Xena's voice was deep and thick, and Jadxea imagined herself wading in it like a river current. Slowly, her hand was released and she backed away from Xena, her mouth gaping open.

Jadxea had only some recognition of Eve steering her over to relieve Hope of a few blankets, and gather a couple of packs. But she stood perfectly still, staring at Xena, when Eve left her to direct Hope into their new bedroom. It did not escape even Jadxea, in all her awe, that when Hope passed Xena, staring curiously and cautiously, Xena refused to look at the young blonde. Eve came back for Jadxea, taking her by the shoulders, her own belongings slung over her shoulders now, and steered the child to the door. They stopped in front of their mother and, for a moment, could only stare.

"I've missed this," Eve choked back her sob. "I forgot how beautiful it was to see the two of you together."

Xena and Gabrielle glanced at each other, quickly, smiling. "Come here, Evey," Xena held out her free arm to her grown daughter and Eve fell into the embrace. Her mother stroked her hair, and kissed her face, and told her how much she loved her; all of which was returned by the woman who revelled in being her mother's child once again.

"We'll have breakfast together," Xena assured as she released her crying daughter. "I'll be here in the morning," she promised.

Eve nodded, and then all eyes fell to Jadxea, standing stock still. Eve and Xena waited, curious to see how the child would handle this moment.

Gabrielle smiled, relishing the fact that her child's reaction was the same as her own the first time she met Xena. "It's time for bed. Say goodnight, little one."

In an instant, faster than a blink, Jadxea fell into Xena's arms, her dark, silky hair spreading wildly around Xena's chest and waist. She was held tightly by arms that, like her mother's, seemed to swear their love and protection. A kiss was pressed into her hair, and she could swear that she felt tears wet her scalp. "Sleep well, my little Xea," her voice sang, such a beautifully haunting song. And quickly, Jadxea realized that it had been Xena in her dream, leading her up to the room where she had found Hope. It had always been Xena, whenever someone spoke to her in her dreams, or she'd heard a voice helping her make a decision. Xena had been by her side, guiding her for her whole life.

"Goodnight, Aunt Gabrielle," Jadxea heard Eve whisper lovingly.

"Goodnight, Evey," sounded the reply. "Thank you!"

Jadxea stepped away from Xena, but couldn't bring herself to look up at her. She was too ashamed and afraid of the amount of emotions that might show in her little face. Instead, she flung herself at Gabrielle, burying herself in her mother's side. a few loving gestures were exchanged, and goodnights were said, before Jadxea stepped away and back into Eve's leading embrace.

But, for a moment, the two stood, staring in wonder at their mothers. For Eve, it was a homecoming; back to some sense of family that she had known from infancy, only forgotten for a time. For Jadxea, it was something else entirely. It was realizing how much was missed, where there is no consciousness of it existing. It was seeing her mother as she had never seen her before; happy and optimistic. There was some light about her that seemed to be growing stronger by the second. Suddenly, those beautiful, heartfelt characters that Jadxea had read about in her mother's scrolls had some meaning. They stood before her, flesh and bone and blood; Xena, The Warrior Princess and Gabrielle, The Battling Bard. They were real, and they were hers to treasure.

Quietly and reluctantly, Eve and Jadxea turned away and left the room, leaving it to the privacy of their mothers. Their hearts skipped a beat in the knowledge that they had somehow had a hand in reuniting them.

The Warrior and her Bard.

..

Gabrielle latched the door carefully, hardly making any noise. Her fingers were still linked tight with Xena's, but even still, she turned back to her soulmate quickly, always fearful that she'd be gone if she looked away.

"She's beautiful, Gabrielle," Xena commented, staring at the door as if she could see through to Jadxea in the next room. "I see so much of you in her."

Gabrielle smiled, her nose wrinkling. "I suppose so," she stepped close, her free hand finding Xena's and lacing her fingers into that one as well, "not always in a good way, though."

"She has your light!" Xena insisted. "Your spirit! She reminds me of a little girl that I met in Potedia."

Gabrielle couldn't help but chuckle. "Really?" she gazed sweetly, almost shyly, up at Xena. "Then who am I?"

Xena's bright face fell as she stared down at the little blonde, solemnly. "You're the woman that I failed."

Gabrielle's smile dropped immediately, and her lip quivered when her breath caught in her throat. "You never failed me, Xena."

"But I left you. I hurt you more deeply than I ever have before, when I swore that I would never do that again."

"But you came back," Gabrielle choked, a sob finding it's way through her defenses. "You are back!" In a heartbeat, Gabrielle had released Xena's hands, and fallen against her chest, her strong, pale arms wrapped tight around the Egyptian wraps that clung to Xena's curves. Tears fell mercilessly, no matter her efforts to stop their cruel assault, and only worsened when she felt Xena's arms pull tight around her shoulders, and a cheek rest lovingly against her head. "I'm sorry," Gabrielle sobbed, fighting tears that wouldn't stop.

"Don't be," Xena's strong voice shook slightly, the only sign to her companion that she too was crying. "I've spent so many years hearing you cry for me, without being able to give any real comfort. It's nice to hear tears of joy for once."

Sparkling green eyes rose to meet blue and Gabrielle's tear-ladden face went pink as she gazed hopefully up at Xena. "You did hear me?"

Xena leaned her forehead against Gabrielle, her eyes fluttering closed, and her breath sliding over that sweet face, as she whispered, "Always!"

Neither was sure who had begun it, if Xena had leaned down, or Gabrielle had tilted up. It didn't matter. Soft velvet lips quickly found soft velvet lips, and it was as if a wave crashed over them. Gabrielle swore that her heart stopped beating, and the world had frozen just for them. the kiss was soft and gentle, their lips trapping each other and then caressing gently away to find someplace new that they hadn't touched yet. It was like coming home; a warmth growing uncontrolably, deep in their abdomens. A stream of salty tears fell between their lips and Xena was quick to follow it's path, her bottom lip trailing it's way up Gabrielle's cheek, and lightly kissed the closed eyelid she found. Gabrielle squirmed slightly under the loving and passionate attention she had long been deprived of. Her nose rubbed gently along Xena's cheek, opposite temples eventually finding each other and resting there. They breathed softly in each other's ears; Xena's eager fingers quickly finding purchase in thick, lucious blonde hair, and Gabrielle clinging desperately to the muscular waist that pressed against her. Gabrielle felt as if her heart had been kick-started again, as it pounded hard against her ribcage.

There was a tired, but content, sigh in Gabrielle's ear, and Xena's head was slowly lowered onto her shoulder with a kiss against the crook of her neck. Gabrielle turned her head, capturing those soul-stealing lips, briefly, once again, before sliding her hands away from Xena's waist, along powerful arms, hooking into her fingers again. Xena made a familiar longing sound at the loss of intimate contact, and Gabrielle smiled at hearing it for the first time in years. Slowly, Gabrielle pulled away and led her tall, dark, but tired, love to the bed nearby and they slid under the blankets simultaneously.

Xena and Gabrielle curled against each other, limbs wrapping around limbs, and their heads pressed together as if they'd been made to fit just so. Xena smiled, her palm craddling Gabrielle's head and her fingers absently playing with the soft hair that looped around them.

"How many times have we laid in this old bed?" Xena mused.

Gabrielle's arms tightened around soft flesh and cloth. "Not enough!"

Xena's smile quickly found Gabrielle's, claiming that gentle mouth that always seemed to create the most perfect words. Softly, slowly, almost shyly, Xena's tongue peeked out, running lightly along Gabrielle's top lip. The smaller woman shuddered, clutching desperately at the powerful back that her hands roamed gently over. Taking that as permission, Xena's tongue grew bolder as she sucked passionately at her lips, literally taking Gabrielle's breath away.

The kiss broke slowly, Gabrielle lightly running her nose over Xena's. They caressed each other for a moment, tears falling here and there from both of them. Carefully, Gabrielle reached up and thread her fingers into the stray black hairs that had fallen over those brilliant blue eyes that she searched for. She pushed the hair back away, her fingertips soon finding an ear that she traced the shape of incesantly. Xena watched as at least five impulses passed behind those sea-green eyes, and were promplty buried and tucked away.

"Gabrielle," Xena breathed in such a longing voice that the blonde lifted her head slightly to hear, "I've been gone for 10 years." Gabrielle's eyes darkened in their concern and attentiveness, as they roamed Xena's face, studying every subtle change. "But I'm alive now. Please," she begged quietly, "don't be so delicate. Just touch me." Gabrielle was slightly taken aback. "Just keep reminding me that I'm really here!"

Gabrielle hesitated for a moment, looking for confirmation in the pleading face that she was rivetted to. Her fingers tightened around the dark hair it clung to, her thumb moving more roughly over the ear she had claimed. She hesitated again, trying to convince herself, and watching Xena's eyes close as she leaned into each movement of her lover's hand. In a split-second decision, Gabrielle leaned over Xena, her lips falling passionately over her lover's, and her tongue invading the mouth she now owned.

Xena gave in, happily, her arm snaking around Gabrielle's waist, her other hand just as possessive of her lover's hair as Gabrielle's. Their mouths greedily fought for supremacy, sometimes giving in and sometimes taking the lead. Gradually, Gabrielle made her way on top of Xena, gaining most of the control, her other hand coming up to cup the dark cheek, and running slowly down Xena's neck, chest, and coming to rest on her ample breast. She squeezed it possessively, eliciting an erotic cry from Xena that Gabrielle didn't allow to reach beyond their hungry lips. Xena's warm hand slid beyond Gabrielle's waist, resting on the crease between her hips and her rear, where the soft doeskin Amazon skirt clung tight.

Their lips broke apart with a clear smacking sound, and they gazed at each other, amazed at themselves and each other. Blonde hair mixed with brunette like a waterfall, cascading over the white pillow. Their hands stilled where they were for the moment while they stared into each other's souls.

"Are you here?" Gabrielle breathed, her hot breath coursing over the ruddy face that she gazed into.

"I'm here!" Xena nodded, tears seeping from the corner of her eye and falling into her hair.

Gabrielle's smile broke like the rising of the sun. Her eyes stayed open and linked with Xena's as she sunk down and placed a powerful kiss quickly on her lips. But, as quickly as she was there, she was gone, her eyes still set on the blue ice that seemed to hold all of her history, her life, her love. She caught the skin just under Xena's chin with her lips, sucking lightly, finally forced to break eye contact as Xena tilted her head to grant access to her eager lover. Gabrielle made her way down to the crease of Xena's neck, her attention focused there, smiling every time her thumb ran purposefully over her breast, causing Xena to gasp.

When Gabrielle untangled her fingers from the dark hair they held, Xena took it as her cue to do the same. But, Gabrielle's now free hand travelled low, teasing along the other breast, and finding the ties that held Xena's Egyptian bindings tight. She worked them apart blindly, the other hand growing more insistant, and Xena's breast now straining against the wrap for more attention. The cloth came loose easily, and as soon as skin was exposed, Gabrielle's mouth came down to claim it. She kissed the ample flesh around the areola before finally taking Xena's erect nipple into her mouth, sucking and tugging gently on it with her teeth.

Xena gasped and moaned, writhing under what would normally be thought of as basic fore-play for them. But, for both of them, being so long denied the simple pleasure of touch, any contact was like a lightening bolt between them. Both could feel the dampness between their legs spreading quickly, their passions, so long bottled up, now errupting between them, that it was obvious their love-making wouldn't last long.

Gabrielle seperated from Xena's flesh momentarily, breathing hard on the soft, wet skin. Quickly, another kiss was pressed in the valley between the beautiful hills of her lover's chest, before moving to claim the other breast. Her hands roamed solicitously along Xena's sides, taking a strong hold of the hips that rolled up toward her in responce.

Xena moaned, and quickly, with a speed that neither realized she had regained, grabbed one of Gabrielle's wrists and forced her hand up under Xena's own skirt. Both women gasped as Gabrielle's fingers inadverently found Xena's center, and Gabrielle launched herself up to meet Xena's blood-red lips.

"You're taking too long," the warrior moaned into her bard's mouth.

The world blurred for them as Gabrielle's fingers moved with practiced skill, and their mouths crashed together. Xena's fingers worked into the straps of Gabrielle's Amazon top, massaging the skin she found between them while her whole body shuddered under the little blonde's ministrations. It didn't take long before the warrior's body went prone. She clung to Gabrielle, desperately, as lights seemed to dance before her eyes, and her orgasm overrode any rational thought. On an immediate impulse, Xena untangled her fingers and reached down between Gabrielle's legs; her long and precise fingers working into the wetness she found there. With the waves of her orgasm still driving her own body, Xena had no idea quite what her own hand was doing, the only thing she could feel was Gabrielle's, ebbing and flowing of it's own free will. But, when the lithe little Amazon's eyes went wide and she moaned aloud, her body pulsing unmistakably against her lover, Xena's free hand pulled Gabrielle's lips back down to hers, as they claimed each other; heart, mind, body, and soul.

The flashes of light subsided for them and Gabrielle rolled, relieving Xena of her weight. She curled against Xena's side clinging tight to the curves of her waist and hips, and kissing away beads of sweat wherever she could find them.

Xena sighed, her eyes fluttering closed, and her fingers absently playing with soft blonde locks. "Boy, do you know how to throw a welcome home party," she teased sleepily.

The warrior was awarded a soft whisper from the angel in her arms. "I love you, Xena."

..

Eve rolled in the light of the morning sun. She rubbed her face to wake up the muscles and sat up slowly, and tied her hair back with the piece of leather she kept tied around her wrist. the events of the last 24hours flashed through her mind like lightening, and she quickly leaned over the end of the bedframe to find a large lump of blankets on the cot by the fire. Jadxea's dark hair spread wildly out on the floor from under the bearskin blanket that rose and fell rythmically. She and Hope had fallen asleep there, curled together next to the fireplace.

Carefully, trying not to make a sound, Eve crawled out of the bed and tip-toed out of the room. She paused at the door across the hall. She reached for the latch, but then hesitated. She hated the idea of just barging into that room without knowing what state she would find her parents in. However, that little four-year-old girl that ran rampant inside her, longed to have that innocent experience of walking in on her mothers in the early morning. Still, she had to consider their privacy. but, oh, how she longed to be sure that her mother's ressurection last night hadn't been a dream.

Eve compermised by knocking lightly on the heavy wooden door. There was no responce and she hesitated once more. That little girl insisted against her better judgment, desperate to know what it was like to watch her mothers until they woke. Slowly, as silently as she could, Eve let the inner child win out, and opened the door carefully. She stuck her head in first, under the pretense of just making sure that they were all right.

Gabrielle and Xena lay facing each other, their hands entangled between them and their foreheads pressed together. If one shifted, the other responded. They moved in perfect sync together, their breathing even matching for a few seconds at a time. Gabrielle was facing Eve, and she still seemed like she was sleeping as Eve slid inside and gently leaned her body against the closed door. Xena's legs shifted under the thin cloth that covered them, and Eve marvelled at the realization that hers and Gabrielle's legs were entwined. She examined the women closely to be sure that they were clothed, as to avoid embarrassment for either party. Both were wrapped in the gauzey cloth of their undershifts, but that obviously was not what had kept the partners warm through the night. Eve watched them sleep for just a moment before shifting and clearing her throat nervously.

A smile spread across Gabrielle's face, her eyes still closed, and she rubbed her nose softly along Xena's. "I think your daughter's awake," she murmered groggily.

Eve couldn't see Xena smile, but she hear a large release of breath that could have been a laugh emitted from the dark lump. "Just like old times, huh?" Xena mumbled back.

"At least now she doesn't scream to be fed and changed," Gabrielle shrugged.

"I could!" Eve offered in a whisper, eager to be a part of the intimate exchange.

Xena chuckled and rolled slightly to see Eve over her shoulder. She untangled her outside arm and reached for her daughter, sleepily. "Good morning, my sweet one," she cooed.

Eve took her mother's hand and quickly slid into the bed. Her front spooned against Xena's back, and the arm linked to her was wrapped tightly around her mother's ribs. "Did you sleep well?" Eve inquired softly.

"Compared to what?" Xena joked, finding the comfortable spot she had made against Gabrielle again and settling there.

"Mother?" a sleepy child's voice called from the door.

Gabrielle lifted her head, peeling her eyes open to find Jadxea rubbing her eye and yawning. She smiled and nodded her head in a gesture for the child to come to her. "Morning, little one," she greeted as her dark little girl shuffled her way over to her mother's side of the bed.

Jadxea stood curiously over her mother, staring down at Xena. The dark warrior's eyes were closed, and Eve's familar face was tucked sweetly into her mother's neck. Xena breathed heavily through her nose, and the child quickly noticed that she and her mother's hands were linked between them.

Gabrielle glanced between Jadxea's awe-struck little face and Xena's half-asleep visage. Quickly, before any of them could realize what she was doing, Gabrielle smiled and wrapped her arm around her child's waist tightly. Jadxea gave a suprised squeal as she was pulled over the top of her mother, and settled between her and Xena. Gabrielle pulled the black silk hair away from the girl's face and kissed her cheek lovingly.

Xena's eyes blinked open slowly and met the matching set that had been placed before her. "Good morning," she smiled pleasantly and Jadxea squirmed nervously. She was silent as she stared back at the beautiful woman beside her. "You know who you look like?" Xena posed the question softly, squeezing Eve's hand lovingly.

Shyly, Jadxea gazed into Xena's eyes and she settled into her new spot in the bed. "You?" she guessed nervously.

"No," Xena gave a soft laugh and set her forehead against the child's, "that's your mother talking." Gabrielle's arm tightened around Jadxea as she listened intently. "You look like your Aunt Lila," Xena looked over the child to her blonde lover. "Did she know Lila?"

Gabrielle's eyes lowered, and she pressed her face into the little girl's dark hair. "We've lived in Egypt her whole life. I got word a few years ago that... Lila was gone. Sarah had taken over the farm."

A moment of sadness passed over Xena's face. For all of her knowledge and sight in the afterlife, she had missed so much. She put on a pleasant face for the child again and tucked close to the girl's face. "Well, your Aunt Lila was one of the sweetest people I knew. And I'm sure Sarah would love to meet you someday soon."

Jadxea tucked her face shyly and curled into her mother. Limbs entangled, Eve's arm reaching over to find Jadxea's, Xena and Gabrielle's hands still linked beneath the child between them, and their feet still touching at the base of the bed. Somehow, in the myriad of bodies, Gabrielle found Xena, and they smiled for a moment at the feeling of being together, with their children piled around them.

"Xea," Eve's head suddenly lifted, her face screwed up in concern, "where's Hope?"

The child's head lifted off of the bed and looked around the room. "I don't know," Jadxea's brow wrinkled. "I came in here looking for her."

"Wasn't she sleeping with you?" Eve was suddenly wide awake.

"No. She was gone when I woke up," Jadxea twisted around, still trying to find her sister.

"Xea, you were supposed to be looking after her," Gabrielle suddenly accused, swinging quickly out of the bed.

"Not now, Gabrielle," Xena scolded, climbing out from under the sheet herself. "We have to find her! She has to be protected!"

Gabrielle, Eve, and Jadxea stopped at the desperate tone in Xena's voice, and watched as she hurriedly searched for clothing. The dark warrior eventually spun to find them all trained on her curiously.

"Let's go!" Xena commanded, seeming to jump-start them all into action. "We don't have time!"


	14. Chapter 14

The little family clamored down the steps of the tavern. All four were clad in a mis-match of soft, gauzey Egyptian wrappings, and the feather and bead ladden doeskin of the Amazon tribe. They carried packs of supplies, the lightest weight on Xena's shoulders, as she was still a little weak and unbalanced. The dark warrior looked a bit uncomfortable and out of sorts in the new clothing and flat, leather-strapped sandals she had been given. Still, she moved as she always had; as if the clothing were just another layer of skin that flexed and moved easily with her.

Xena led their way down the steps with Gabrielle close behind; her Amazon necklace hanging heavy on her chest, denoting her rank, and her outfit moving with her sleek, taunt muscles. They needed supplies to go after Hope, and Gabrielle thought she might be able to intimidate some merchants with her Amazon status into getting those supplies faster and cheaper. The pair halted at the base of the steps, Gabrielle's hand immediately set on Xena's arm to still the inevitable sharp temper brewing in her companion.

Eve and Jadxea followed their mothers, the younger clinging tight to the elder's hand, her guilt, fear, and youth all making her feel utterly useless. Jadxea knew her mother well, she would be getting a cold shoulder for her carelessness. So, she stuck close to Eve, who, she knew already, would be quick to forgive and forget. Eve, however, was near to frantic. Not nearly to the degree of Xena, but enough that one could possibly mistake her for Hope's mother, if the girl didn't look so much like Gabrielle. Eve pulled Jadxea along behind her, and true to the youngest's prediction, the idea of Hope's disappearance being Jadxea's fault was the farthest thing from her mind. The pair halted quick behind their mothers, only having made it half-way down.

Every patron of the tavern had stopped, setting down their utensils and mugs, and starred up at the little quartet. Their eyes were trained to them as if they had never seen anything like this little rag-tag band of heroines. Gabrielle's quick eye caught sight of a young woman in the corner of the tavern, sitting alone. She was dark in her skin, eyes, and hair, and she bowed her head when Gabrielle caught her eye, revealing the beads and feathers of an Amazon woven into her chestnut hair. The young Amazon kept her eyes lowered respectfully to Gabrielle for the duration. Others were not so curteous. They gaped at the four of them, frozen behind Xena on the steps. Gabrielle waited, her memory of Xena vivid, knowing that her partner would, more likely than not, allow her temper to take over, and lash out at the unashamed gawking.

Instead, Xena suprised her. Her pulse was fast, and she was still clearly aggitated, which would normally call for a very annoyed comment to the tavern, or her exit like a bull storming through the little building. But instead, Xena turned back, catching Gabrielle's eyes only briefly, before fixing on her children behind her and smiling. She gave them a wink and shrugged. "Oh, if your mother and I had a dinar for every time this happens to us." And at that, she led the group down into the tavern, not smiling anymore, but her face personable and pleasant enough. Xena spun around and huddled them near the bar, fully aware of all of the pairs of eyes still fixed on her. "Gabrielle and I will gather supplies and see if anyone around here has seen her. With any luck, she just wandered into the forest."

"Xea and I will get some food together and see if anyone around here saw her. Tristan seemed a little disoriented when he left us last night. Maybe he stayed up and saw her come downstairs." Eve dropped her pack on the barstool and began rummaging in it for money.

"Good girl," Xena commended, patting Eve's shoulder, and swiftly beginning to make her way through the sea of gawking faces.

Gabrielle turned to follow, but turned back quickly, pointing a sharp finger at her little girl. "You stay with Eve. I mean it!" And with that, she jogged out after her companion.

Jadxea didn't even have time to nod before her mother turned away from her. The little girl climbed onto a barstool and dropped her head. "She's really mad at me," she mumbled.

"She's frightened," Eve corrected. "Hope is very vulnerable. She doesn't remember anything about the world. Who knows what she could encounter and not be able to handle..."

"And it's my fault," Jadxea clenched her jaw to stop it's quivering.

"Hey," Eve had stopped searching, and instead was pulling Jadxea's chin up so that their eyes met, "don't think that. You have been wonderful to her. You loved her first... always remember that!" Jadxea nodded half-heartedly. "I'll bet you she's somewhere right under our noses anyways," Eve tried to be encouraging, but for some reason, neither believed it.

"Can I help you ladies?"A male voice spoke gruff, but kindly. He stood tall behind the bar, his uncomfortable face betraying his kind and hospitable voice.

It was Tristan's father, and suddenly Eve felt ashamed to not know her own cousin's name. But this was not the time for pleasantries, nor reunions, and she quickly set to action. "We're missing one of our party," Tristan's father glanced nervously toward where Xena and Gabrielle had exited. "She's about so-tall," Eve measured Hope's height with her hand, "blonde hair, green eyes, dressed in wraps. She might look a little... lost... bewildered..."

"My," a female voice moved close, and Eve found Tristan's mother coming around her husband to join the conversation, "you do seem to acquire people, don't you?"

"And lose them just as quickly," Eve granted, shrugging. "Have you seen her?" she pleaded, suddenly feeling a bit uncomfortable and pressed for time.

"Sorry," Tristan's father shook his head, "the only one I've seen even coming close to that description is your friend who left you just a minute ago."

Eve sighed heavily, and finally nodded. "Well... thanks. Um, we're going to go out looking for her. If we could get some food..." Eve dropped four coins on the bar, and Tristan's mother snatched them up quickly, scurrying off to the kitchen with a smile. "Xea, I need you to stay here, and when the food comes, pack it in your bag. I'm going out back to fill the wineskins."

Fast as lightening, Jadxea caught Eve's arm, panick set in her little face. "Alone?" she begged. "But..." she whispered desperately, glancing out into the sea of patrons, "they just keep looking at me!"

And, indeed, Eve found more than a handful of patrons, some male, some female, still starring curiously at herself and Jadxea. Eve bit her lips, thinking as fast as she could. Finally, she nodded, and forced Jadxea's focus back on her. "Don't move from this spot. You won't need it, and I'd prefer you don't even touch it, but...," Eve drew a small cutting knife from her own pack and set it in a convenient location just inside Jadxea's, "Whatever you do, do not tell your mother I gave this to you." Jadxea's blue eyes were rivetted to the little knife, barely sticking out of the flap over her bag. "I'll just be a few seconds!" Eve assured and jogged out the back way, trying to dodge suspicious eyes.

Ever-so-slowly, Jadxea reached over her shoulder and stroked the hilt of the little cutting knife. It was only meant for gutting fish and small game, she knew that. But, it had been given to her for the purpose of protection. For these brief moments, Jadxea had a weapon... and she wasn't sure that she liked it as much as she thought.

...

Eve hurried to the little well behind the tavern, her arms full of animal-skin jugs. She really wasn't comfortable leaving Jadxea alone, now that the child had expressed concern, but they needed everything done quickly... and she would only be a minute, right? As Eve came up on the stone built well, she found a very familiar young man perched on the edge, staring at his hands that were folded in his lap.

"Tristan?" she caught his attention when she came close. Tristan jumped off the well, much more alarmed than the moment really called for. Eve let it go, needing him to clear out of the way to pull up the bucket anyways. "Are you all right? You seemed a little out of sorts when we left you."

"Well... how would you be if a long-lost relative you've idolized your whole life suddenly came back to life?" Tristan made a face and fell back against the little stone barrier, facing away.

Eve smiled at him as she pulled the bucket up onto the wall and dipped the first water jug into it. "Scared. Angry. Incurably curious. Angry mostly, though... I was so angry with her!" Tristan turned to her, his face screwed up in confusion. Eve's eyes remained level, and her smile never waivered, though her hands moved like lightening in the water. "Mother was gone for 25 years of my life. I thought she was dead... she was just," she smirked, collecting the word, "sleeping. It's a long story. Anyway, I understand how confused you are. Sometimes it's best not to examine God's plan too closely."

Tristan ground his teeth thoughtfully, letting the silence fall. The third jug was being filled in the bucket beside him. "So..." he began with the first thought in his head, "you're really into this whole Elijan thing, aren't you?"

Eve's blue eyes flashed up at him, a smile ever tucked into the corners of her lips; the kind of smile that one gives a child who has stated the innocent obvious. "Yes," the fourth jug fell into the dwindling water, "and, God willing, one day you will know why." She cleared her throat, switching topics as easily as a train of thought. "Tristan, we lost one of our group; a young woman, maybe a little younger than you, who looks like Gabrielle. Did you see her at all this morning?"

"No," Tristan shrugged, or shivered; it could have been either, "I've only seen my father this morning. I told him what happened last night. He's starting to really believe I'm crazy."

Eve sighed, corking the last wineskin, and set her hand on Tristan's shoulder. "You have been extrordinary, and it has been so wonderful to meet you!" He tried to interrupt, but she just kept going. "We have to go find Hope, and all of us are riding out. You won't be bothered by anyone anymore, and I can't think of a better person to leave my grandmother's tavern with." He tried to interrupted again, but she already knew what he was about to ask. "We'll try to come back. But," she winked, "my mother is like the wind; ever-changing, shifting." She gathered the skins in her hands and wrapped her arms around her little cousin quickly, "Thank you for everything, Tristan!" And with that, she bolted back into the tavern.

...

"We don't have time for this, Gabrielle," Xena bulked, but clung true to her love's hand as she was dragged into the forest behind the masoleum.

"Just a minute, I swear," the blonde promised, seeming to count the trees, never looking back at the woman she held so tightly to. "This can't wait."

"Hope can't wait!" Xena urged, impatiently. When Gabrielle stopped in a seemingly random area, Xena rested her body against a tree. "I'm nervous about that horse you bought," Xena stated while watching Gabrielle begin to dig up the earth at her feet, clearing leaves and using her sais as shovels. "It looked like it has trouble carrying it's own weight... let alone mine."

"Help me with this?" Gabrielle requested in all of her unsupressed excitment. Xena knelt beside her, taking one sai and using it in equal tandum with her free hand. After a moment of digging, Gabrielle sat back and watched her lover as the sai suddenly made the sound of metal-on-metal and the dark-skinned, elegant fingers wiped dirt away . She smiled, her heart soaring, as Xena lifted her old tarnished breastplate from the soft earth. "I bought some leathers for you while you were looking at the horse. I don't know if you'll be able to wear the plates anymore, but..."

Xena was nearly open-mouthed, unable to make her eyes leave her old armor. She managed to speak, but it was hardly more than a whisper, "I... I burried this... in Japa. How did you find them?"

"It wasn't easy," Gabrielle shrugged. "I couldn't leave it there. They belonged here... with you."

Xena's eyes finally lifted to meet her companion's weak smile. Before Gabrielle had a chance to react, Xena had cupped her neck, and pulled their lips together quickly. "You're an angel!" the dark warrior whispered. Gabrielle's eyes roamed over that beloved face as she reached up and took the hand, so warm against her skin, and kissed the back of it softly.

...

Jadxea helped Eve tighten the strap on the old horse Eve had ridden in on. Eve's pack was secure, and Jadxea couldn't help but watch the woman saddling her horse at the same speed as Gabrielle. A small flash of jealousy passed the little girl's mind. All her life she had tried to be just as fast. She hated being smaller and slower. Cautiously, she lifted her blue eyes to survey the villagers beyond the open barn doors. The villagers starred back at her, curiously. The little cutting knife was still in her pack, Eve hadn't mentioned getting it back yet, and Jadxea made no effort to get rid of it just yet. The villagers here in Amphipolis were unsettling, almost unsafe. For some reason, Jadxea found herself pining for the comfort of the Amazon village. She briefly considered how strange it was that she didn't wish for Egypt, but that was quickly forgotten. Instead, Jadxea's mind wandered to the smokey fire pits of the Amazons, and the smell of Terreis' mother's cooking. She suddenly remembered that she had forgotten to leave Terreis a note, explaining where she had run off to. She wondered how long it had taken them to realize she was gone.

"Xea!" Eve snapped her out of her revery. "Your horse. We don't have time for daydreaming!"

"No, Kepi's staying here," Gabrielle's commanding voice stopped her little girl in her tracks. "Jadxea, you'll ride with me." She went to the stall and pulled Danae by her reins, the horse already saddled and eager to move.

"But," Jadxea's worried little face spun between her pony, who munched happy on her grains, and her mother's face that dared reproach, "I can't leave Kepi."

"We don't have a choice, Xea," Gabrielle was ushering her child back toward her, taking her pack and fastening it to her brown mare. "You rode Kepi hard to get here. She's just a pony. She needs more rest. She'll be too slow. I've spoken to the barnkeep, he's agreed to take care of her while we're gone." Gabrielle began leading Danae out of the barn, with Jadxea trailing behind, nervous and upset.

The bright sun hit Jadxea's eyes hard, and she blinked, trying to adjust faster. When her vision cleared, she found her mother had already climbed up into her saddle, and Eve was already astride her own horse, pulling the old gelding around to face the new, spotted, grey mare that was now joining their team. Jadxea looked up to find the mare's rider and was met with the sight of a warrior, tall and proud, clad in dark, chocolatey leather. Tarnished coppery armor looped and hooked around the leather, creating emblems and patterns across strong arms, legs, and chest. The warrior's long brunette hair fell wild and careless down her back, and her skin glistened bronze in the morning sun. A beautiful, jewel-encrusted sword and scabbered were attached to her back. Jadxea was frozen, starring up at this hero, worthy of every story she'd ever heard, dreamt, or imagined.

The grey mare was pulled back and forth, testing her agility. "Well, you're not going to be so difficult after all. She just needs a little motivation," the warrior remarked to Gabrielle, pulling the mare alongside Jadxea's little paralyzed body.

The little girl watched her circle, and as the horse stopped beside her, her eyes suddenly found the very familiar silver and gold disk attatched to the warrior's hip. The chakram, her mother's chakram, hung from a little leather clip at the warrior's side. Some strange, territorial feeling surged in Jadxea suddenly. That chakram was her mother's; it was all she had left of Jadxea's father; Jadxea knew the story very well. But... the warrior... Xena... she _was _the hero of all of those stories. Jadxea knew she had no reason to be upset, but something inside her made her want to scold the warrior for taking posession of the precious weapon.

The warrior smiled down at the little girl who watched her so carefully. A large and warm hand stretched out out to the child. "Would you like to ride with me, Jadxea?"

Slowly, the little girl reached out and took the hand offered to her. Faster than she had ever experienced before, Jadxea was swung onto the back of the grey mare, and her little body melded against the warrior's with ease.

"The baker said he saw a young woman going into the woods heading west," Xena's voice vibrated through her back and across Jadxea's chest. "So, we'll head in that direction and try to pick up her tracks."

"She can't have gone far," Eve's hopeful voice broke the air.

"She is on foot. That's our advantage," Gabrielle answered. "We should be able to find her in a few hours."

There was an uncomfortable silence, and Jadxea swore that she felt Xena tense in her arms. "Let's not lose anymore time," Xena declared, and all three horses made their way through Amphipolis and onto the cleared path in the woods, heading west.

...

The sun was high, beating hard on Amphipolis, when Terreis finally found herself coming upon the little village. She swung her sleek young stallion around to face her travelling partner; an older, harsh-faced Amazon with wild auburn hair and blue-green feathers everywhere.

"The tracks lead into the village. Maybe she's found Queen Gabrielle," Terreis suggested.

"We have to be sure. It was your duty to look after the child, and until we find her, you are not absolved of that responcibility," the warrior pushed her horse onward, past Terreis and on toward the village.

"It wasn't my fault, Shirra!" Terreis flared, the stallion prancing up beside her. "I woke up and she was gone. No one in the village heard her leave! What did you expect me to do?"

"Stay awake with her all night if you must!" Shirra snapped. "Now Queen Cyane is angry with all of us. Queen Gabrielle's child was to be kept safe and sacred, and now she is lost!"

Terreis was quiet, anger and shame blurring her vision no matter how hard she tried to push it away. The Amazons were not known for their quiet and reasoning. They were a proud, harsh tempered people; and Terreis was all Amazon. She darted quick glances at Shirra; the hard, set face starring steadily at Amphipolis. Terreis' temper began to cool, and she suddenly found herself considering why Queen Gabrielle was such a revered leader. Gabrielle was raised outside the Amazon world. She came to them from a whole other culture and way of life. She came to them as a bard, not a warrior; the warrior came much later. There was so much more than what the Amazons had been teaching Terreis... maybe Queen Gabrielle's Way, that she'd read about, was just as important to learn.

Terreis considered posing this suggestion to Shirra. But that tough-as-nails warrior beside her wouldn't budge from her momentary purpose, much less her overall lifestyle. Terreis dreaded that inevitable narrow-minded, constant focus more than any shame or death. But there seemed to be no way to avoid it. She was born into the life of an Amazon warrior, and somehow it seemed that she had been tailor-made for it. But some part of her yearned for the choice that Queen Gabrielle had given herself. The choice that she allowed Eve to have. Terreis found herself jealous of little Jadxea herself, and the diversity of such an indeterminant life she had been given.

Terreis and Shirra pulled their horses to a stop in front of Amphipolis' tavern. The villagers worked and mingled, but just as they had encountered in other villages along the way, the people kept their wary eyes on the Amazons. A shiver ran down Terreis' spine. This place wasn't right; somehow, something otherwordly had happened here and it was unsettling. She looked to Shirra and found her companion seemingly struck with the same impression.

"We get in, we find the girl, we get out," Shirra laid out the plan curtly. But she paused, immovable on her horse.

"I don't think these villagers are going to talk to us," Terreis observed with a nervous pitch in her voice.

"We'll find someone," Shirra insisted, still not moving from the saddle, as if touching the ground would root her to it.

"You're looking for a child," an etherial voice called to them from the tavern door, and both woman snapped to attention. The dark Amazon, clad in beads and feathers and deerskin, came down the steps slowly to face the travellers. "The child you seek is no longer here."

Terreis studied the Amazon carefully, concerned that an Amazon, and an unfamiliar one at that, would be so bold and forthcoming. But Shirra wasted no time. "We are looking for a child," the older warrior confirmed. "Her name is Jadxea. Dark skin, dark hair..."

"And sky-blue eyes!" the dark Amazon finished. "Like her other mother. And I told you, she's not here anymore."

"Did you see where she went?" Shirra immediately pounced her question on top of the Amazon's words.

"The great queen," the Amazon declared as if she were making a proclamation to the village, "the beautiful queen, the queen of wisdom and of words; she who has died and been ressurrected from every persecution and hardship, the queen of the light..." the Amazon's words trailed off.

But Terreis didn't need more than the first title to know where Jadxea was. "She found Queen Gabrielle!" she beamed at Shirra.

"Or the queen found her," Shirra's tone was almost scolding, as if Terreis had dared to degrade Gabrielle by suggesting she had been found by a child. "Well, there's no need for us here. Let's go back to the valley. I don't like being the minority among..." Shirra glanced around the people of Amphipolis, "them," she generalized, contemptuously. Reluctantly her eyes fell on the dark Amazon and she sighed, giving into her duty, but not really wanting to. "Many thanks to you, sister. If your tribe is not nearby, we'd be happy to take you back to the safety of our own."

The dark Amazon smiled sweetly, coming all the way off the steps now and coming close to the two women, calmly. She boldly placed a hand on the elder Amazon's thigh, obviously aware how uncomfortable she was, but not removing her hand for any reason. "Shirra," the auburn-hair warrior flinched at the stranger's inexplicable knowledge, "you should try a bit of honesty in your life. It may do you some good. Possibly not in a large way, but absolutely in everything small."

"Are you a Shamainess?" Shirra demanded, her skin growing very hot where the Amazon's hand rested.

"A reader," Terreis corrected, watching the Amazon in enrapt facination, "a seer. She is a prophet."

Dark eyes turned on the fresh young Amazon, and the hand was dropped from Shirra's thigh. "Terreis," the dark Amazon began calmly, stepping close, but never touching her, "you have wisdom. I know your fears. But one day, just like the young princess whom you share your name with, your wisdom will be passed on, and will enrich the lives of your people." Terreis starred deeply into those dark eyes, her heart soaring from this kernel of knowledge given to her, and then sinking into her stomach in rememberance of the story of Princess Terreis. "Your fears are not unfounded," the Amazon prophet whispered. "There is danger around you. There will be until your end. Do not fear the danger, Terreis. Fear the darkness that will follow if you are lost and your wisdom is not passed into the correct hands. The Princess was destined to pass her wisdom to The Great Queen. And while she had her successor, so you have yours."

"This is all quite awe-inspiring, but I have to be honest," Shirra gave the Amazon prophet a sarcastic look, "I'd really rather not be in this pathetic little village for five more minutes."

"Yes..." Terreis whispered, pulling the reins of her stallion so that he retreated from the Amazon, whose dark eyes she never left, "we have to go. We have to find Jadxea."

"No," Shirra insisted, thoroughly unnerved by the apparent connection that she wasn't a part of, and unwilling to be still any longer, "the Queen has her. We know that now. It isn't our place to question where they've gone."

"West," the prophet answered, climbing the steps again. "They went west. And your young companion is right, Shirra. You must find the child of The Great Queen. They travel with two Princesses, one of peace and one of war. They are all in mortal danger. The rebirth of The Child of the Darkness and the Light will bring about the greatest struggle that no one will ever know about."

"Wait a minute," Shirra stopped the prophet in her tracks, "you knew Queen Gabrielle was in danger and you did nothing?" she snapped, viciously.

"Not nothing," the dark Amazon smiled pleasantly, "I've told you."

"We have to go!" Terreis urged, the horse underneath her shifting with excitement.

"No, Terreis!" the prophet suddenly shouted. "You are destined for many things, but not this. The danger lies in the purity of heart among those that follow this path. To be a pure soul, with no stain on your conscience as of yet; you will only encourage the flames! Shirra must go alone, and you must return home to find warriors to aid her."

Terreis' face went red, and the horse danced beneath her, feeling his mistress' eagerness and urgency. "I will not sit at home like a babe while my Queen and her child; my friend; are in danger! If you know my mind, then you know this; since I was a child, I knew, I would be willing to die in the service of Queen Gabrielle!" Terreis kicked her heels into the stallion's sides, and the horse sprang into a gallop, through the village, heading west.

Shirra was left in utter amazement, watching her young companion leave, and she finally summoned up the awareness to swing her own horse around to follow the young woman. But before she could command the horse, a white hot hand was pressed against her thigh, and the dark Amazon met her eyes.

"Heed the words, Shirra. Heed the words!"

Shirra dug her heels into the mare's sides and the beast bolt through the village, toward Terreis and far away from the strange, dark prophet.

...

Tears fell like rivers down the soft, pale cheeks. Dirt patches covered her brow and neck, all down her arms, and where the gauzey wrappings had ripped away from her lean, cream colored legs. Her green eyes were wet from weeping, but she blinked them away as best she could while she pushed branches, brambles, and bushes out of her way. The branches caught her bright, red-gold, sunset colored hair, as they did every so often, and tangled her in the brush. Eventually, she would struggle enough that either the branches or her hair would give way and she could keep moving, keep running, unable to stop.

Finally, a root caught her foot, and she fell, out of the brush, and face first into a rolling valley of tall grass. Dirt now covering her wet face, she tried to wipe it away with her cut and bruised hands. Instead, it seemed to make her situation worse. Eventually she gave up and let her weight fall into the earth, the tall grass encircling her, embracing her, rocking her in the breeze like a craddle. Her body surrendered, she knew she couldn't run anymore. Her muscles burned and screamed their protest, spasming as if they were unable to simply stop their activity, it had to be worked out gradually. The wind blew, and a tree from within the brush creaked with the shifting weight of it's branches.

"Hope!"

She rolled onto her back, sitting upright in one fluid motion.

"Hope!"

She listened hard, trying to find the voice that she had been following for so many hours now. The voices... oh, how they just wouldn't be silenced! But this one was so distinct and so clear, she was sure that it came from someplace. That place was safe, and she knew how much she belonged there, but she couldn't see where it was, or why it was so special.

"Hope!"

She couldn't stop herself now. She began rocking, and words were coming to her from places she didn't know even existed inside her. They insisted, unfiltered, and she was forced to let them out into the world.

"Darkness and the Light. The child. A child. Danger lies in the purity of heart. Unstained... clean... unstained. Two Princesses. A purity of heart. The Darkness... the darkness that will follow... Darkness... Light! One of peace and one of war. The Queen... the Great Queen... the rebirth... the child... danger! It will not do! It will not serve..." she was silent for a moment, the last words coming to her with meaning far beyond her comprehension. "It will only encourage the flames!"

"Hope!"

The voice called, and she answered, climbing to her feet with a will she did not know she had, and running once again through the tall grass of the valley and plunging into the darkness of the forest.


	15. Chapter 15

"She went through the valley," Xena explained as Gabrielle pulled Danae to a stop beside her. "Straight through the wood."

"She's headed for the coast," Gabrielle agreed, gazing around the sea of grass before the forest ahead of them. "It's getting late. We'll lose our light in a few minutes. We should stop and camp."

"No," Xena grumbled angrily, "we can't stop. Not until we find her!"

"Xena, we won't be able to find her tracks in a couple of minutes. We'll start again at first light," Gabrielle reasoned calmly.

"Why haven't we found her yet?" Eve called from behind the partners. "She's on foot. It shouldn't have taken us more than a couple of hours to catch up to her. According to these tracks, we're still half a day behind her, at the least. This isn't possible."

"I don't know," Xena mumbled, her mind racing as she stared intently at the old tracks. She was beginning to lose the exact shape of the girl's foot as she was losing the sun into the horizon.

"Xena," Gabrielle's soft voice called, "please, we have to stop. You're exhausted and pale. You shouldn't be pushing yourself like this."

"I'm fine!" Xena insisted, still starring at the tracks.

"You're not!" Gabrielle insisted, a little more forcefully now. "Xena, give yourself some time. You rose from the dead last night, for Zeus' sake! Please," her voice went soft again, "you have to rest."

"We can't stop, Gabrielle. We have to find her," Xena pleaded, starring off into the forest now. The wooded area beyond the grass was growing darker and more foreboding.

"Fine, if you won't stop for yourself, then stop for Jadxea. She's been on that horse all day. All of you could use a break!" Gabrielle was trying to keep her temper under control, mostly because she'd never known herself to lose it so easily with Xena. Since her lover had died, Gabrielle had developed a short-fused temper that she hadn't been able to control. Now... she had Xena back, but she couldn't stop the rage that had grown inside her.

"Jadxea," Xena called over her shoulder, "how are you doing back there, sweetheart? Do you need to stop?"

"I'm okay!" Jadxea insisted, trying to force down the yawn that would betray her.

"Xena..." Gabrielle warned, immediately recognizing the shifting weight movement her partner suddenly exhibited.

"I think we can get a few more hours of travel in," Xena stated quickly. "Hah!" she commanded, flicking the reins before anyone could stop her, and the grey mare took off across the field.

Gabrielle's jaw tightened, her anger flaring now, unable to be supressed, and she kicked Danae's ribs, forcing her to follow. Danae was fast, and she only carried a single little Amazon, so it was only a matter of seconds before she had caught up with the grey mare. She snorted as if to convey Gabrielle's anger to the other horse. Gabrielle reached out and grabbed the horse's reins near the halter, forcing the mare to stop, and immediately crossed Danae around in front of her, and then circled to the other side. Quickly, as her firey eyes linked with the ice of Xena's, Gabrielle wrapped a strong arm around Jadxea's waist, and roughly pulled her daughter off of the grey mare, away from Xena, and settled her in the saddle in front of her. "We need to stop!" she spoke harsh and low. "We'll do no good in darkness. We can keep moving in the morning." She clicked her tongue and Danae began to move back to where they had left Eve.

"Why do you talk about her as if she's just a lost dog that we can replace?" Xena yelled, the horse now swung around to face Gabrielle.

Danae was pulled to a stop, and she turned when she was commanded. Jadxea sat uneasily in front of Gabrielle, her mother's arm still wrapped around her waist, and glancing down and to the corners of her eyes, uncomfortable with being in the middle of all of this. "Why are _you_ suddenly so concerned for her?" Gabrielle questioned, the fire never leaving her steely green eyes.

"Why aren't you?" Xena argued back. Gabrielle sat back, her eyes downcast, visibly forcing herself to calm down. She breathed deeply and slowly, collecting her thoughts. She was stopping herself, forcing herself to reverse years of anger and hurt.

"You!" Jadxea suddenly screamed, the fire of her mother's eyes suddenly seemed to infect hers. "It's your fault!" Xena sat back, shaken by the child's sudden outburst. "She tried! She tried to love Hope! And every time you forced them apart! It was you! It was always you! Loving Hope meant having to lose her one day! It's because of you that she can't love her! She afraid of loving! She afraid that she'll just have to lose her again! And you did that to her!"

The arm around Jadxea's waist tightened, and she was shaken as Gabrielle whispered her plea into her ear. "Stop it! Jadxea, stop!"

"She loved Eve, and she lost her too! She loved you! She loved you more than anything!" Jadxea's screams pierced the air, and Xena was frozen, a tear shaking itself free and sliding down her dark cheek. "And you left her! She loved you, and you left her! What did you expect? She can't love anymore! If she loves it, she knows that she'll lose it! Why do you think she hates me?"

Gabrielle's grip went limp, and all she could do was gape at her child. "Jadxea," she breathed incredulously.

"She hates me, and it's because of you! She doesn't love me! She never has, and it's all your fault!" The child couldn't be consolled or stopped, and now tears inhibited her words. All that could be made out now was 'because of you' and 'your fault'.

"Jadxea, no!" the shock had worn off, and Gabrielle's arm tightened again, trying to still her child. But the little girl fought and kicked, squirming to be let go; crying and screaming unintelligible. Danae was growing nervous the more the girl twisted and kicked, forcing Gabrielle to hold the reins and Jadxea tighter. She tried cuddling the girl close, whispering comforts, but she would have none of it. Finally, the child worked her leg up and over the horse, and slid like butter out of her mother's arms. Jadxea hit the ground hard, not quite catching herself on her hands. Her face fell, hidden, in the grass, but the 'THUD' her body made was unmistakable. She wailed harder, still screaming her unrecognizable accusations. "Jadxea!" Gabrielle cried out. But, the moment her mother had prepped to climb off of the horse, Jadxea jumped to her feet and began running like lightening.

Before anyone could make a move, Eve's horse came galloping by and she called over her shoulder to her mothers, "Don't worry, I've got her!" Jadxea had been tripped, and she lay in the grass again, crying and shaking. Eve swung off of the horse, and was on the ground in a flash, gathering the little girl into her arms and rocking her.

Jadxea recognized Eve's scent and the thin arms and waist suddenly so tight against her, and she immediately clung fervently to her, crying and choking against those comforting, soothing sounds. "I want my father!" she suddenly insisted, gripping Eve so tightly that the elder worried for a moment that she would break skin. "I want my father!" Jadxea wailed again, and then was lost in sobs once more.

"I know," Eve rocked her, fighting her own tears. "I know, sweetheart." She looked up at Xena and Gabrielle, both of whom were shaken and crying, watching their children, utterly speechless.

Slowly, Xena pulled her horse around to face Gabrielle. She prodded the grey mare to come up beside the brown, and cautiously she reached out, stroking Gabrielle's cheek with the back of her hand. "I'm so sorry," she choked out.

"This..." Gabrielle struggled with her voice, "all of this; it's why you needed redemption from me. This is why you needed my forgiveness."

Xena's eyes were linked with her lover's, her heart feeling as if it had collapsed, crumpled under little Jadxea's words, and knowing the only moment that came close to rivalling this heartache was the moment she had chosen to leave Gabrielle, all alone, on that mountain. "I'm so sorry," she shook her head, needing to say more, unable to find anything more appropriate.

Shaking, Gabrielle reached up and took hold of the hand that rested against her cheek. She clung tight to it, kissing the back, and then holding it against her heart. Her eyes fell back on her child, still attatched to Eve and crying for her father... a father who never existed. How did she let all of this get so out of control?

A fire was built, and the camp had been set by the time Jadxea managed to completely collect herself. She had been controlling herself for a few minutes before the sobs would take her over again, and she clung to Eve like a life-line. She wouldn't allow her mother or Xena to touch her. Instead, she would shrink away, tucking her body into Eve, sometimes even going so far as to crawl into her sister's lap to get away.

Dinner was small; consisting of the bread they had purchased at the tavern, and the bit of beef that had been roasted and packed up for them by Tristan's mother. Xena sat on her bedroll in front of the fire, her knees drawn up to her chest, and the half-eaten dinner beside her. Gabrielle was next to her, her head resting on Xena's knees, watching the coals burn and break apart. Eve was on the other side of the fire, eating a small portion, but eating none-the-less. Jadxea was sitting against the woods, close enough that the fire would warm her, but with her back turned, starring into the forest, far enough away that her rebellion was made clear. Her meal was completely untouched, sitting on top of the root beside her. Eve had tried coaxing, pleading, soothing, everything she could think of to convince the child to join them and eat. But Jadxea had brushed off every attempt, often falling back into inexplicable, unconsolable crying. Finally, Eve had gotten frustrated and left Jadxea where she sat, proclaiming that _she_ was going to have dinner and spend time with her mother because, "you never know how lucky you are to have a mother until you lose yours!"

Xena played with the golden hair that fell heavily down her leg. Gabrielle shifted, looking over to where her daughter sat, her head still propped only by Xena's knee. She felt Xena's attention shift over toward the forest as well. Gabrielle sighed, resigning herself to the inevitable and began rising to her feet. Xena caught her hand half-way up and squeezed it reassuringly, but it did nothing for Gabrielle's nerves. She returned the pressure, but wouldn't look at her, afraid of what she might find in her lover's face; she couldn't see or hear one more apology, they were proving too painful all at once.

Gabrielle moved steadily toward her child, the dark hair that fell, like unkept silk, down her back shifted and she knew that Jadxea heard her coming. She braced herself for another wild outburst, but the child merely stiffened at her approach. She only stood there for a moment, watching the child try so hard to not look at her. "Scoot over, Little Bit," Gabrielle picked up the untouched plate and perched herself on the root. Jadxea swivelled away, making it easier for herself to keep her eyes off of her mother. "You're going to be awefully hungry tomorrow." The only responce she got was half of a shrug from the child. "Xea...?" the child was silent, starring into the woods. "Jadxea... I'm sorry I lied to you." The little girl's eyes darted over her shoulder, but she still wouldn't turn to face her mother. "It's all gotten so out of control," Gabrielle sighed, letting the words just fall out of her mouth. "I never... I didn't think, didn't _dream_, that it would ever hurt you. I never imagined something like this ever happening. I'm not going to say I wish it hadn't. I'm so happy you have the chance to know Xena. It's been Xena that I've told you stories about. It's Xena that you wanted to be like when you grow up. It's always been her that you and I loved!" There was suddenly a mumbled responce, making Gabrielle stop. "What's that?"

"She's _not_ my father," Jadxea mumbled miserably.

"No," she granted, "no, she's not. But she is the reason you're here today." Jadxea was trying very hard to keep herself from looking at Gabrielle, but it was proving more and more difficult. With her head pressed against her shoulder, and her little face downcast, she darted her eyes up at her mother. "Do you remember when we visited the temple in Egypt, and that baby was born?" Jadxea nodded silently, the image of the birth vivid in her hungry little mind, and her attention being pulled into the beginnings of her mother's story. "Remember the mother? And how difficult having that baby was for her?" Another nod, her daughter's eyes now locked with her over her shoulder, her body still insisting away. "Well, when you were born, it was _much_ worse than that. I was in a lot of pain all day long. I thought that I would surely die! I was in so much pain that I fainted." Jadxea's eyes were wide, brief moments of horror flashing through them as her imagination took hold, and her mind played images of her stronger-than-steel mother being weak enough to faint. "And while I was asleep, I had a dream. Can I tell you a secret?" Gabrielle whispered, leaning into her child, and the girl turned her shoulders in order to get closer to her mother. "I've never told anyone this, so neither can you, okay?" Jadxea nodded. "When I fainted, I had a dream, and do you know who I saw?" Jadxea shook her head, sinking in closer. "It was Xena, and she was smiling at me. And she told me about you. She told me what you were going to look like, and how smart you were going to be. You know what else she told me?" Jadxea waited, thoroughly wrapped up in the story. "She told me that I couldn't die; that I had to take care of you. She told me to wake up because there was a beautiful little girl that I just had to see. When I did wake up, the woman who had been taking care of me told me that I almost died, but I woke up just as she thought that she wouldn't be able to save me. And then she brought you over to me, and you were so beautiful! You looked just like Xena had told me you would! And you know what?" Jadxea swivelled the rest of her body around to face Gabrielle. "I fell madly in love with you, right then and there! You were so perfect that there was no way that I couldn't fall absolutely and completely in love with you!" Jadxea's blue eyes fell slowly, starring at the leaves that she kicked. "And it's been that way ever since, Jadxea! I have never, ever stopped loving you! I've never loved you any less, not for a second! And I'm so sorry... _so sorry_ that I didn't tell you that every single day."

Jadxea didn't turn away, but she kept her eyes fixed on the ground, shifting from focus-point to focus-point. Quietly, she ventured a tentative question. "Who was my father? My real father?"

Gabrielle sighed, wrapping her arms around herself. "He..." she searched for the words that wouldn't sound detatched and vague, "he was a bard, which is probibly why you're so good at telling stories."

"No," Jadxea suddenly rejected, "that's because of you. I'm good at stories because of you!" she insisted.

Gabrielle nodded her agreement, half-hazzardly making her way through the uncharted territory of this set of questions. "He was of The Pharoh's Lands," she offered. "Very dark, very handsome, very kind to me," Gabrielle tried to gage the reaction on Jadxea's face, but the child had gone blank, her eyes ever-fixed to the ground. "And, unfortunetly, that's all I know about him."

Jadxea's brow furrowed and she shook her head. "His name?" she whispered, never losing sight of the leaves at her feet.

Gabrielle sighed, wanting so desperately to have a different answer. "I'm sure he told me at some point. But... I'm sorry, sweetheart, I don't remember his name."

Jadxea was shaking her head slowly, and a tear fell, wetting the ground below her. "That's not right."

"I know," Gabrielle nodded. "You're right, it's not." She tilted her head, trying to capture those beautiful blue eyes. "But, I'll tell you something; if I hadn't gone to Egypt, and I hadn't met him. If I had stayed in Greece, stayed with the Amazons, and I had you here, it wouldn't be any different. Men aren't allowed in the tribe, and often times, when a member of the tribe decides to have a child..." she attempted to find the correct words, "they don't try to find a permenant mate. If you had been born with the Amazons, I most likely wouldn't be able to tell you your father's name then either." Jadxea released a deep breath, her arms wrapping around her own middle and rocking slightly. "I'll bet Terreis wouldn't be able to tell you her father's name if you asked her. Now, that may not make it right, but it's not any different than today."

"The Amazons," Jadxea began, mumbling as she glanced over her shoulder at Xena and Eve, feeling their eyes on her, "they have to choose to have a baby. You didn't want me. That's the difference."

"I didn't plan for you, that's true," Gabrielle granted. "But that doesn't mean that I didn't want you. Remember? I was going to die. I planned to die. Instead, I got you... and you saved me. You saved my life, Jadxea! Now, it may not have been what I expected, but that doesn't mean I didn't want you. It doesn't mean that I _hate_ you. I have always, _always_ loved you!"

"You always loved Xena," Jadxea glanced over her shoulder.

"Yes, you are very right!" Gabrielle smiled for the first time. "And would you have it any other way? As much as you are pinning for your real father, Xea, it's Xena who you've looked up to all your life. It's Xena who would have been your other parent."

"Like you and Eve?" Jadxea finally met her mother's green eyes.

"Yes!"

"And Hope?" It was Gabrielle's turn to go quiet and turn away. "What about her?"

"Well," Gabrielle pet her daughter's head, pulling the stray hairs away from her face, the black silk matted to bronze skin from hours of crying, "you are a very smart little girl. You weren't wrong about everything today." She took hold of the arms that were wrapped around the little waist and pulled her child close. "But, that's my own struggle, and as much as I appreciate you trying to defend me, only I can work through it." Jadxea fell into Gabrielle's side, and allowed herself to be held, her ear pressed to her mother's chest, hearing the steady vibrations of her voice. "It wasn't fair of you to blame Xena. I've done this to myself. And I've forgiven Xena for any hand she had in it many, many years before you were born. Also," Jadxea looked up at her, "you've read the scrolls, little one. I wasn't the only one who lost a child."

The little girl's bright eyes went sullen and downcast, ashamed; she had forgotten all about Solan. Hope was real now, a person whose face she could see, and a body she could touch. Solan was a far-away concept; just a character from a story. She felt her mother kiss her head and then turn to look back at the campsite. Jadxea turned herself, looking back at Xena and Eve nervously. Slowly, she rose, escaping her mother's arms and moved toward Xena, playing with her fingers. She bit her lips as she knelt next to the dark warrior. "I was wondering..." she began in a whisper, "mother won't teach me to fight. Would you?"

Xena watched the child; her eyes shifting away and then back again. Finally, identical blue eyes locked and Xena's apprehensive face broke into a smile. She pulled Jadxea down into her lap and the girl fell, craddled in strong and sure arms.

Gabrielle dropped onto her bedroll beside them with a roll of her eyes, "Hades in Tartarus, Jadxea, will you never give up?"

"She's a fierce little one, that's for sure!" Xena laughed, tickling the girl held tight in her embrace. "Maybe you've been right all this time. Maybe she is mine."

Gabrielle smiled, full and true, her nose wrinkling, and grasped Xena's hand tightly in her own. "She's ours. And she always has been." The warm smile was returned, and both women gave it to the little girl who clung to Xena's leather straps. Another body suddenly melded against Gabrielle's other side, and she found Eve, cuddling into her blonde mother's chest. Gabrielle met Xena's gaze, going a bit darker, her expression more serious. "Hope..." the other two pairs of eyes suddenly joined in the mix, "she's heading for the coast. Do you think she'll try to get on a ship?"

"I doubt it," Xena's voice was heavy and thick. "But that will depend on what she finds at the coast."

Recognition passed quickly across Gabrielle's suddenly pale cheeks. "She didn't run off on her own," her eyes were wide, and her grip tightened on both Eve and Xena. "Xena, the children..."

"They'll be in more danger if we leave them on their own," she insisted, holding Jadxea closer.

"I'm not a child," Eve spoke up, quiet, but insistant.

"Which is why we need you with us," Xena silently apologized for Gabrielle's slip. "It will be up to you to keep Jadxea safe."

The little girl grinned and reached over her head, grabbing Eve's hand, and proclaimed to her dark mother, "I know the drill. Don't let go."

"It won't be so simple this time," Gabrielle met each of their eyes, finally settling in Xena's blue ocean. "God, Xena, what if we don't find her? I don't think I could..."

"I promise you, Gabrielle," Xena leaned her forehead against her lover's, "history won't repeat itself. I won't let it."

...

In the dawn light, Hope emerged from the forest to the sounds of crashing waves. The salty sea air assaulted her, and she halted at the edge, reeling with exhaustion. She swayed on her feet, no longer looking where she was going, or even trying to make herself see. Her whole face was caked in dirt and sweat, so much that even when she tried to focus her eyes, everything had a black and brown haze. She was following the voice now, the voice who called to her incesantly. The voice felt like it was physically taking hold and leading her to this place. She knew she had arrived, wherever she was.

She wondered, for a fleeting moment, if the voice would pull her to the cliffs. Maybe it would tell her to jump into the ocean and let it claim her. Maybe all of this would end; all of the voices, and the torment. Maybe she wouldn't have to see the mistrust that would always linger in her mother's eyes ever again.

"Hope!"

The young blonde followed, the idea of death sounding more and more appealling to her with each step. Instead, her small frame made contact with something large and wooden. For a moment she thought she was mistaken and she had never left the forest. But the mass suddenly gave way, and her body fell against stone. She rolled, the pain in her body excrutiating now that she had paused for a moment. She rubbed her hands over her eyes in her first attempt to clear them. She had blinked a few times before there was a flash of light, the door was closed, and the world went black.


	16. Chapter 16

The dawn light had barely broken on the valley when Xena, Gabrielle, and Eve climbed onto their horses and began following what they already knew of Hope's trail. Jadxea had woken only long enough to be helped into the the front of her mother's saddle. She straddled the horse backwards, her arms wrapped around Gabrielle's waist, while she dozed against her mother's chest. Eve, and even Xena, marvelled at the child's ease with the odd position, and the girl's ability to sleep through the jostling of the horse. Gabrielle could only smile, and explain in a whisper that when Jadxea was fussy as a baby, the only thing that would quiet her was the rocking motion of a horse.

At midday they stopped to water their horses and examine Hope's tracks closer. There was almost nothing left of them, they were so old and so many animals had trampled them. But, the direction was unmistakable so that they hardly needed to keep track of them. They were back on the trail in only a half an hour, the adults all keeping quiet as to the severity of the situation, allowing Jadxea's innocense free-range for the precious few hours of travel.

"And then, Anta- she's the one who used to live in the palace- Anta said that she didn't think I could make Kepi jump the wall, because, you know, Kepi's small. Kepi's just a pony, right? So I had Akusaa and Seb watch with her. 'Cause, see, Anta is really mean, and she's one of those people who'll just say that it didn't happen, when she knows that it did!" Jadxea rambled on, perched on Danae behind Gabrielle. She was enthusiastically recounting her tale, mostly to Xena, who rode beside them. Jadxea had regained her tongue, and now told stories non-stop of their life in Egypt.

If she weren't starting to get tired of the constant repetition of names and the occational repeated story, Gabrielle would have been relieved that Jadxea was once again the talkative, happy little sprite she adored. She cast an apologetic look to her soulmate that the child couldn't see, and recieved a look that somehow conveyed a combonation of 'don't apologize' and 'now you know what I went through'.

"So, I had to get Kepi to trust me. Did I tell you that Kepi wasn't mine? Did I tell you that she used to belong to Anta?" Jadxea's wide blue eyes searched Xena's face.

"Yes, sweetheart, you did," Xena tried deperately to supress her laughter.

"Six times," Eve called, good-naturedly, from behind them.

"So, you know that I couldn't just jump on her and expect her to just listen to me, right? But, guess what, that's exactly what happened. Like we were supposed to be together, you know? And then Kepi just started running and when we jumped the fence, it was like we were flying. Akusaa and Seb had to tell Anta's father what they saw, but then Anta just gave in, and that's how I won Kepi! She's a palimino, and she's _so_ pretty! You would love her! Everyone loves her. She's really friendly!" Jadxea took a second to breathe, immediately losing her advantage.

"Xea," Gabrielle began, trying not to sound exasperated, and pulling Danae to a stop, "jump on with Eve. Xena and I are going to ride ahead," she smiled at the unrepressed eyeroll from her elder daughter. "We're close to the coast. Smell the salt? Xena and I will ride ahead, make sure everything's clear. Take your time. I don't want either of you anywhere near the cliffs." Jadxea's little face had gone serious and focused as she braced herself between the two women and slid onto Eve's horse.

"The cliffs?" Eve shifted with the new position of the child hanging onto her. "Is that what you're worried about? That she went to the cliffs and-"

"Don't jump to conclusions!" Xena immediately stopped her daughter with a warning look. "We don't know anything yet. Just keep to the woods, and don't go near the water. Understand?"

The siblings nodded, and watched as their mothers rode off along the forest path at a gallop. Jadxea's arms tightened around Eve's ribs, and her nervous voice quaked. "Eve? What about the cliffs? What do you think's gonna happen?"

Eve cursed her loose tongue, and tried to sound as calm as possible. "I'm just afraid that she won't be as careful near the water as we're going to be." She clicked her tongue and the gelding lurched forward, lazily carrying the sisters through the forest. "How about you tell me some more stories about Egypt? It's been a long time since I was there."

There was no responce from the child who clung to her. She felt a sigh and little Jadxea's head eventually rest against her back, but that was the extent of interaction the girl offered. Eve consolled herself by saying that her little sister was just more inclined to talk to Xena right now, and that she was still lost in her bissful ignorance. If only she could actually believe that.

...

"That was aweful!" Xena called out with a smile in her voice. "We're a while away from the coast, Gabrielle!"

"Not that far," Gabrielle called over her shoulder as she pulled Danae's reins to slow her down a bit. Xena caught up and rolled her eyes at her transparency, their horses now trotting side by side. "All right," Gabrielle smiled, "so, I got a little carried away. Can you blame me?"

"Oh, no," Xena laughed, "you don't get away with that. How many times did I listen to you drone on and on about something that had _just_ happened to us? Four hour- _four hours_, Gabrielle- hearing about how 'amazing' a flip was. Or, 'did you see what the chakram did? How would you describe that? Xena? Xena? How would you describe that?'!" Xena was poking at her companion mockingly, not actually touching her, but close enough that Gabrielle was flinching away.

"Okay, okay," she rolled her eyes, gazing at Xena longer than her partner stayed with her, "I'll admit I was kind of annoying in the beginning-"

"Oh, I wasn't talking about in the beginning," Xena stared straight ahead, smiling smuggly.

"Ha. Ha ha. Ha. Ha..." Gabrielle mumbled sarcastically. With a quick, sly glance to her lover, Gabrielle suddenly kicked Danae's sides and clicked her tongue, sending the horse speeding along the trail, very obviously challenging the dark warrior.

Xena just couldn't help herself. For just a moment, nothing had changed. She had never sacrificed herself, she had never hurt her soulmate. For a moment, there were no children to be concerned for, and nothing mattered except life. Just a moment when Xena's whole world was devoted to a little blonde Amazon, and the smile that seemed to illuminate every dark corner of her existance. Her grey mare took off after Gabrielle like a shot, racing through the forest, following every flicker of Xena's directions. She was terribly impressed after a while; Gabrielle's horse had incredible fortitude. She followed every one of her mistress' commands and never lost pace. Xena's mare was a fine horse, but she didn't have the bond and trust that Gabrielle and Danae had. For a fleeting second, Xena pined for Argo and that connection they had shared.

Gabrielle led Danae straight toward a stream where the horse never flinched. She jumped the span of it with complete ease, Gabrielle herself looking like she was simply a part of the horse as they landed on the other bank, moving in perfect sync. They never looked back, rounding a bend at full speed. Xena urged her grey mare faster, but at the stream, the horse slid to a complete halt, almost throwing the dark warrior. Xena rolled her eyes, disappointed that she was very obviously losing this race.

A frightened cry from a horse suddenly broke through the silence of the forest, and Gabrielle's unmistakable yelps carried over the top of them. Xena's eyes went wide, and she kicked her horse's ribs hard, snapping the reins, forcing the mare to wade the shallow stream, the beast bulking away from the water even as Xena urged her onward.

"Gabrielle! Ha! Go! Gabrielle!"

Finally on the other side, Xena was able to push the mare hard around the bend of the trail. She found Gabrielle, still atop her horse, who was rearing wildly, backing away from some invisible catalyst, and rearing again. Danae snorted and stamped, obviously trying to listen to Gabrielle, but too frightened to really pay attention.

"Whoa!" Gabrielle called, panicking, but trying to soothe, "Whoa, girl! Okay! Ho! Ho! It's okay, girl. We won't go that way. Whoa! Okay, we won't go that way!" she pulled the reins, turning the horse around so that she faced away from whatever had frightened her. She didn't truely calm down until she had taken a few strides away from the spot. Xena rode up close to her companion, her own horse now starting to get agitated. Gabrielle climbed down, but held tight to the reins and circled in front of her horse, nuzzling her into her shoulder, and rubbing between her ears. "Hey! Hey, girl. What spooked you, huh?" she cooed. "It's okay. Danae, you okay, girl?" Danae nudged her shoulder affectionately.

"Are you all right?" Xena launched off of her horse, holding tight to the reins as well.

"Something scared her," Gabrielle glanced back at where the horse had panicked.

"Yeah," Xena took stock of her own horse, "something's making this one nervous too."

"I'm gonna see if I can lead her," Gabrielle only had eyes for her four-legged friend at the moment. She took a few steps back toward their destination, pulling the reins along. Danae followed faithfully, her nose close to Gabrielle's neck. But, half way back to where she'd been spooked, Danae began bulking, throwing her head up and backing away from Gabrielle's steady pace. "Whatever it was," Gabrielle stopped and came back to her horse, stroking her nose, "she won't go near it again."

"We're close enough to walk," Xena offered. "Do you want to leave the horses and make our way on foot? The girls will pick them up when they-"

"Shh!" Gabrielle held a hand up, listening to the wind that suddenly blew through her long blonde hair. "Do you hear that?" Both partners listened hard, the trees rustling and the horses' hooves clomping against the soft earth. "It's Hope."

"Hope?" Xena touched Gabrielle's arm. "Are you sure?"

Gabrielle nodded, listening hard. "Can you hear her? She's calling to me."

Xena gazed around the forest, listening with all her might. She heard the horses, the leaves, the rushing of the stream, animals of countless varieties rustling through the foliage, but no voices. "Are you sure it's her?"

"Yes..." Gabrielle was still listening, her brow furrowed. "I know where she is. I can follow her there." Slowly, the sea-foam eyes met Xena's and the warrior's heart lurched at the expression on her bard's face. "He knows I'm here. I can feel him," her panicked eyes shifted around their area. "Xena, go! Take the horses, find the girls. He doesn't know you're here. Let's keep it that way," she passed Danae's reins to her companion absently.

"You're not going after him alone, Gabrielle," Xena warned, her eyes narrowing.

"He has my daughter, Xena!" she snapped. "And I won't let him win again. You're not strong enough to face him yet, and I won't allow you to walk into another slaughter!" Both set of eyes dropped away from each other. "That wasn't fair," Gabrielle mumbled her apology. "Please, Xena, listen to me on this. He can only sense me. I don't want you walking into a trap that you're not prepared for."

"You can't get rid of me that easily," Xena's eyes slid mischeviously over her lover. "He doesn't know I'm here, Gabrielle, and that's our advantage."

"Xena-" she protested.

"Gabrielle!" Xena stopped her. "I won't leave you! Ever!"

A moment of tenderness passed between the lovers, and Gabrielle laced her fingers into Xena's. A quick, electric kiss was exchanged, and even faster, they seperated, leading the horses off of the path and into another area. Their reins were wrapped loosely around low branches, and Gabrielle set her forehead against Danae's, scratching her jaw.

"All right, Danae. Wait here for Jadxea, understand? And you take good care of her, okay? Good girl!"

With a large sigh, Gabrielle closed her eyes, and listened hard to the wind. Immediately she set out, leading Xena on their quest toward the coast.

...

"Jadxea!"

The girl peeled her cheek off of Eve's back and listened hard.

"Jadxea! I'm in trouble! Jadxea! Please, sister! Help me!"

That voice... it was Hope. Hope, begging for help and comfort. Jadxea held her breath, considering her options, panic spreading through her veins. Should she jump off of Eve's old horse and make a run for it? Should she tell Eve and try to convince her to go after Hope? What if they were headed in entirely the wrong direction and no one realized but her? No... no, they were on the right path, it was only the degree of urgency that had changed. Jadxea's mind raced, there was nowhere for her to go, and she was sure that Eve would tell her that they had to do as their mothers said as long as they were on the right track. But something was wrong. She needed to get to Hope, and she needed to get there fast.

"Jadxea!"

She clung tight to Eve and closed her eyes. For the first time in her life, Jadxea prayed to the Fates that she woud get an opportunity to run... and soon.

In only a few minutes, something or someone answered her prayers. Eve leaned forward in the saddle and the old horse's lazy speed slowed. Jadxea craned her neck to find what had caught Eve's attention.

"Do you see them?" Eve's steeley gaze fixed into the distance and she quickly kicked the horse's ribs to force him down the path. They pulled to a stop alongside the brown and grey-spotted mares. Jadxea jumped off with all her speed and agility, running to Danae, the horse dipping her head so that the length of her nose made contact with Jadxea's little frame.

"Where's mother, Danae?" Jadxea stroked the horse's jaw.

Eve climbed down, her horse immediately moving to the area the other horses had been grazing at, and began examining the ground closely. She kicked leaves away, and sunk low to the ground, the fabric of her sari collecting dirt as she went. "Xea," she finally called out, "tracks! They don't look too old." The little girl ran to her side. "They're definitly Mother's and Aunt Gabrielle's. No odd distribution of weight," she examined, "no broken branches. I don't see any blood anywhere. They seem to be fine, it just looks like they decided to walk. Can't imagine why, though. The trail is clear and the horses seem fine."

Jadxea glanced around herself, taking in the territory. Slowly, her eyes fell back on Eve, the elder sister's focus intent on the earth at her feet. She had to think fast; Eve was much bigger than she, and there was no way she could out run her. No, she needed an advantage, at least something that would keep Eve a little behind her. The wind blew through her dark hair and she looked up quickly, smiling at her genius.

"If the tracks aren't old, they're probibly not too far away. I'm going to climb a tree and see if I can see them!" The girl immediately grabbed a branch and began hauling herself upward.

"Xea!" Eve called, their identical blue eyes connecting suddenly. She hesitated for a moment, a nagging bad feeling pulling at her. But, the confidence and excitement in that little face made her fight it.

"I want to make sure they're okay. What if they're hurt and need our help?" Jadxea tried to keep her voice as innocent as possible. She smiled wide when Eve nodded slowly. Jadxea swung herself once, twice, and then her leg hooked up and over a branch and she climbed.

"Jadxea!"

She wasn't sure if it was Eve or Hope who called to her now. She wasn't sure she cared either. She knew where she needed to go and she climbed high enough that she was sure the foliage would cover her, and then she began climbing, jumping, and swinging from tree to tree. She was going in the right direction and she moved that way as quick as she could.

...

Xena and Gabrielle sunk low in the bushes at the edge of the forest. The sea air filled their senses, the wind off the water so intense that blonde and brunette hair tangled together and then seperated just as quickly.

"The temple," Gabrielle nodded in the direction of a huge brick structure, run down, crumbling slightly on the corners and roof. "I remember passing it on my way to the ports for Egypt. It's been abandoned for years."

"Not anymore, apparently," Xena pointed to the roof. "Something's taken up residence. See the smoke?" She glanced at Gabrielle, watching her companion; the deep green eyes, set jaw, and intent face all hiding the terror that Xena could feel radiating like heat off of the blonde. "Gabrielle," she attempted something that sounded reassuring, "what do you think the chances are that she just stumbled inside and built herself a fire?"

Gabrielle's eyes fell, and then slowly found their way up to meet the ice-blue of Xena's gaze. There was so much pain, so much suffering, so much fear in that sweet, weary face. Years of mistrust, hardness, bitterness, anger; they all stared back at Xena, and with no words at all, they begged her not to encourage the fantasy that she herself was fighting.

"Let me go in first," Gabrielle's gaze fixed back on the abandoned temple. "If I need back up, I'll call you, but I don't want you possibly walking into a trap."

"So, you're just going to walk into the trap yourself?" Xena examined her.

Gabrielle shot her a look, but wouldn't give a responce. "It looks like there's an back entrance. It should make a good vantage point. You can keep watch from there." And with that, she pulled her sais from her boots, pressing the blades flat against her forearms, and crossed the barrier of the bushes out onto field, headed toward the temple.

"Gabrielle," Xena suddenly had a hold on her elbow. They starred into each other's eyes for what seemed like eternity, a lifetime of words passing silently between them. Friendship, love, and trust, unpresidented depths of commitment and dedication; all of it seemed to flow between them where skin made contact with skin. They knew what needed to be done, and they knew that they could trust each other to do it. Oh, how good that long-lost reassurance felt to both of them. A nod of acknoweldgement was all that needed to be exchanged between them, and then they seperated, one on each end of the neglected temple.

Gabrielle crept up to the huge wooden door as silently as she could manage. Dirt shifted under her feet, making scuffling noises on the stone base of the temple. Her heart was beating so hard, she felt as if it might burst through her chest. Her stomach was plummeting, leaving a hollow feeling in her gut. She was sure the sensations would make her sick. She swallowed it all back down and set her jaw tight. With a deep breath for courage, she pushed the door open, peering cautiously into the temple. A large gust of wind off of the water blew through the feild, so strong that it pushed Gabrielle hard against the door, forcing her inside.

The temple was hauntingly familiar; high ceiling, walls that seemed endless, pillars of stone chisled with symbols that Gabrielle was oddly ignorant to. But the one thing that she truely recognized, the thing that she knew all too well, lay in the center of temple. An alter made of stone, with steps sloping up to it. Gabrielle knew that alter; she should, she had spent months with it occupying every dream, every nightmare that her mind had plagued her with. The chills ran from the crown of her head, down to her feet and back again. And, worse yet, as she crept forward, the form on top of the alter came into clarity. It was Hope, her prone figure the image of a young Gabrielle, draped in a heavy red and black robe.

All of her training and maternal instincts took over, and Gabrielle sprun into action. She practically jumped the steps up to the alter, calling to her daughter all the way. She examined Hope, amazed to find no visable cuts or bruises, her hair perfectly combed and spread out on the stone, and her pale, clear skin like milk under Gabrielle's worked and calloused hands. There were no signs of a struggle, nothing to even indicate that she had been travelling for two days straight. She took Hope's face in her hands and began shaking her.

"Hope! Hope? Baby, can you hear me? Come on, Hope, wake up!"

Without warning, the emerald green eyes snapped open, staring, seemingly catatonic, at the ceiling. Gabrielle held her breath as Hope's eyes slid slowly to find her mother's face, the expression oddly blank. Gabrielle backed away, inexplicably uncomfortable suddenly, as Hope slowly pulled herself upright, and spun around to face Gabrielle, her legs hanging of the side of the alter. There was suddenly anger, menace, darkness behind the sweet eyes that Gabrielle had become accustomed to. She quickly realized... that odd feeling in her stomach; it was evil, and it was now radiating off of Hope.

The younger blonde tilted her head to the side, her malicious smile spreading over her face, and her eyes narrowed at the woman before her.

"Hello, mother."


	17. Chapter 17

**To my readers, this is a long one, so settle in and enjoy. We're nearing our conclusion, everyone!**

...

Gabrielle stepped backwards away from the menacing young woman perched on the alter. She tried desperately to organize her balance and footing, but the step down came sooner than she anticipated and her foot slid out from under her. She caught herself on one hand, catching a glimpse of a pit just behind the alter.

Hope slid off of the alter, her intense eyes focused on Gabrielle, and the red and black robe billowed around her. Hope's movements were so fluid that she practically floated to where her mother now half-knelt, and towered over her, intimidating and imposing. "You seem suprised, mother," Hope's voice was smooth and even. "Weren't completely prepared for this possibility, were you?"

"Hope," Gabrielle had regained her footing and held her hands out like a barrier as she backed down the steps, "you can fight this! This isn't you!"

"I am more myself than ever," Hope pursued Gabrielle down the steps. "You see, helpless little Hope only knew what you showed her. With no memories, I had no idea what had happened to me over the course of my former life. But now... well, let's just say the gaps have been filled in." They had reached the bottom of the stairs, and Hope allowed a malicious smile tug at the corners of her mouth. She turned away, deliberately turning her back to Gabrielle and walking around the alter.

For a moment, Gabrielle fought with herself. The warrior and the protector said to attack while she had the opportunity. The mother and the bard told her to reason with her daughter. Suddenly, some inexplicable force pulled the sais from her hands, and they made a crashing noise as they hit the far wall behind her. She realized, Hope had her powers back... Hope had made the decision for her. 'Okay, reasoning it is'.

"I can't erase the past, Hope," Gabrielle made her voice as soft and calm as she could. She followed the young woman cautiously around the alter. "There is so much I would change if I could. Don't you understand that?"

Hope froze in her tracks. Slowly she spun, so smoothly it looked as if she were rotating on a pedastle. She faced Gabrielle, her expression harsh and unreadable.

Gabrielle stepped close, steeling the quake in the pit of her gut. She reached a tentative hand up and brushed the soft blonde hair back behind Hope's ear. "Do you understand? It wasn't supposed to happen like this. You were never supposed to leave my side." Gabrielle shifted her eyes to the pit behind Hope, her features darkening now. "You were never supposed to be a pawn for _him_ to play with at will!"

Hope stared into her mother's eyes, examining her closely. She let that statement sink in and process. Finally she turned away and continued her journey around the alter to the pit. "What a pity," she sighed as she went, "mommy and daddy never did get along." Hope made it over to the pit and stared into it, the red glow hitting her face and accenting the colors of the robe. She grinned inwardly, aware that Gabrielle was not coming anywhere near the pit, nor would she try. "You see, the trouble is, mother, that father was the only one who ever cared for me. He was the only one who looked after me," her voice was rising with sudden uncontrolable passion. "He was the only one who taught me. The only one who showed any pride in me. The _only_ one who cared whether I lived or died! While you," her voice softened and she turned to face Gabrielle, "mother dear, spent my entire existance trying to murder me. So... my choices are quite simple in this matter, aren't they?"

"You hurt people, Hope!" Gabrielle implored. "My friends, my family! I couldn't step aside and let that happen! I tried to make you understand! I tried to teach you-"

"Teach me?" Hope scoffed. "You abandoned me, poisoned me, threw me in a lava pit; you did everything you could to get rid of me. My whole life, the only one who ever loved me was father!"

"Loved you?" Gabrielle reeled, wanting to grab Hope and shake her, but refusing the move any closer to that pit. "Hope," she called softly, "don't you know who you are? You just don't see it, do you? Hope, you were never a child! You were a toddler within hours of being born! It took you a mere three months to grow to the size of a ten-year-old! Haven't you ever wondered why? You call him 'father', Hope, but he never intended to have a child! You were created for the sole purpose of doing his bidding! Don't you see? He's no father, Hope! He's a master, and he created the perfect little slave! And you're letting him get away with it!" Gabrielle stopped a moment to breathe. "Hope, don't let him do this to you. You're stronger than he is! Do you know why?" She waited, Hope's brow was now furrowed in utter confusion and she glanced between Gabrielle and the pit. "Because you're my daughter! You're a part of me! And that little bit of humanity that I gave you makes you stronger than he could ever imagine! It means that you have a choice. You can choose to not let him control you like this!"

Hope breathed heavily and slowly began shaking her head. There was too much happening. She was confused and disoriented. "No... no, he took care of me."

"He kept you alive, but not because he cared about you. He needed you," Gabrielle's eyes fixed on the pit, all of her hatred pouring from their sea-green depths. "He needed you to do what he was too much of a COWARD to do for himself! He used you, Hope! Just like he used me! He's a coward, Hope! He preys on vulnerability! But you're stronger than him! You can fight him!"

Hope was searching, grasping for reasoning. Her eyes darted aroung the temple and she looked as if she were being physically pulled in two seperate directions. Suddenly, she shook her head, her blonde hair flying wildly, and then stopped just as abruptly. She spun again, a slow and calm float to face Gabrielle. Her eyes rose slowly to meet her mother's gaze. All confusion was gone, her expression was placid and she watched Gabrielle with all of the conviction in her little frame. "My father is the great God, Dahak, and I am honored to be called his daughter."

Gabrielle shook her head slowly, the sadness in her eyes was almost overwhelming. "You're a thing. You're a vessel, Hope. Just as I was."

Mother and daughter stared each other down, neither giving way to either argument. But a sudden crash broke their focus. The door of the temple was thrown open and a child ran through, like a little flash of light.

"Hope!" Little Jadxea screamed, bolting around the alter, searching for her.

Panic set in Gabrielle's veins and she reacted as fast as her brain would process. She threw her arms out and caught Jadxea around the waist, pulling the girl tight against her and whirling away from Hope, using her whole body as a shield. But, as if Hope could reach across the twenty feet span that seperated them, Jadxea was suddenly pulled roughly out of Gabrielle's arms. The child slid uncontrollably into Hope's arms, the young blonde held Jadxea tight around her shoulders and waist, pinning the girl against her.

"Hello, baby sister," Hope's voice slid malevolently through the temple. "You're just in time."

"Hope!" a heavy, dark voice suddenly called from the opposite end of the pit. "Let her go!" Xena, sword drawn, lips pursed, and eyes so intense they could pierce the night, advanced on them slowly.

"Well, isn't this an interesting reunion," Hope gazed calmly around the temple, her grip not even flinching from the child struggling in her arms. "The two women who brought me into the world; once again trying to take me out of it," she ran her fingers through the black silk of Jadxea's hair. "And the little girl destined to take my place."

"What?" Gabrielle demanded, her tongue finally regained, and attempting to move closer to her daughters without getting any closer to the pit.

"Oh yes, mother," Hope's evil smirk beamed, "she has been chosen. Isn't it wonderful! And who more fitting than my sweet, innocent little half-sister?" Jadxea protested weakly as Hope began pulling her up the steps of the alter. The child was still frightened and disoriented, and she hadn't quite figured out why Hope seemed strange.

"Hope, don't do this," Gabrielle pleaded, mirroring their steps up to the alter. "She trusted you! She loved you! She took care of you!"

"Yes," Hope acknowledged, "and now I'm going to repay the favor. Jadxea," she growled in mock-loving tones into the child's ear as they climbed a step, and then another, "how would _you_ like to hear a story?" The child whimpered involuntarily, but Hope never flinched. "Once, there was the lovely daughter of a God, and when she was unable to do any more noble works for her father, he called upon her to find a worthy replacement. Luckily, the daughter," the pair were near the alter now, Hope's pace steady, Jadxea trying to squirm away, and Gabrielle keeping up with each step, "she had a little sister. And this little sister was perfect for the job. And so, the daughter went to the temple of her father and called for her little sister to join her." The three of them made it to the top of the alter, a stand-off occurring, Hope and Gabrielle both darking the other make a move. "But, once in the temple, their cruel mother, who never cared for the sisters at all, showed up. She demanded that they reknownce the great God, the one who offered them protection and peace."

"Hope, no!" Gabrielle tried not to make any quick movements. "Please, don't put her through this. He's controlling you! Don't let him do the same to her, please!"

"He offered them power, control," she whispered enticingly into Jadxea's ear. "They could make things happen just by using their minds. Doesn't that sound wonderful, Jadxea?"

"Hope, stop it!" Gabrielle couldn't help but scream. Suddenly, Hope's eyes narrowed on her, and she felt as if something had pushed her as she went sailing through the air and landed hard on the temple floor, about ten paces from the alter steps.

Jadxea managed a step forward and was able to only release the sound, "Ma-!" before she was yanked back against Hope's front.

"You see, Jadxea? I can just make her go away," Hope taunted. "All of the times I knew she didn't love me. All of the times she hated me. Every time she gave me up," she whispered hauntingly, "for Xena." Something came singing through the air, and Jadxea's eyes grew wide as the whirling yin-yang disk came straight for them. But Hope casually held out her hand and the chakram was suddenly flying back in the other direction. They watched Xena try to catch it, but it grazed her side before she could grip it, and that dark warrior dropped to her knees.

"No!" Jadxea whimpered, crying and now torn between her mother struggling on one side of the alter, and Xena, fallen and bleeding on the other.

"This is what it will always come down to, Jadxea!" Hope gripped her tighter. "Trust me! I know! Someday mother will be forced to choose between you and Xena. You've already seen it begun. She will never love us the way she loves _her_. Stay with _me_, Jadxea! Dahak has already welcomed you. You will finally have the father you've always dreamed of. He can give you great power. We'll be together, you and I! As sisters should be. We'll be a family," Hope encouraged, and slowly her arms loosened and dropped away from the girl. "All you have to do is lay on the alter, and everything you've ever wished for will happen. Just like a fairytale, Jadxea."

Slowly, the little girl turned to face her sister, piercing blue eyes meeting the deep green. "I love you, Hope," Jadxea whispered. "You're my sister. I don't ever want to lose you," Hope was smiling, almost something real and true, not dark and sinister. "But I can't stay here with you. I already have a family."

Hope's smile fell. Her eyes narrowed on the child, and something invisible gripped her tight and began pulling her onto the alter, no matter how hard she fought. "The Chosen do not have to be willing. As our mother should remember!"

"NO!" a scream suddenly resonated through the temple, and everything froze to find Gabrielle pulling herself up the steps slowly. "Take me!"

Hope's eyes fell on Gabrielle slowly and that evil smile, once again, played across her mouth. "That opportunity has long since passed, mother."

"No, I mean it!" Gabrielle climbed unsteadily to her feet, facing Hope fiercely. "You want to see a choice? Watch this!" And with that, Gabrielle gathered all of her strength and ran back down the steps toward the firey pit at the base of the alter.

"NO!" Xena's piercing screams echoed in the great hall. "Gabrielle! No!"

...

The horses were growing tired, but the Amazon warriors pushed them, forging through the rough terrain of the forest. Both war-horses easily jumped over the little creek they came upon, landing on the other side with such grace that the riders hardly felt the impact. They followed the path, heading around the bend when a scream suddenly broke through the quiet of the foliage. Terreis pulled the reins to slow her stallion, her eyes searching the wood with quick, and sharp, attention to detail.

"We don't have time, Terreis!" Shirra called back, begrudgingly slowing her own steed. It would be harder for them to work the horses back up to their original pace once they'd let them slow down.

"There's someone there!" Terreis answered, urging her horse around the bend, and keeping piercing examination on the forest.

"Our duty is to the royal family, Terreis," Shirra chastized, keeping close to her young companion. "We don't have time to stop for a mad vagabond. Let's go!" Shirra was about to force her horse to keep running, when Terreis suddenly hooked her feet into the stirrups and pushed herself to standing.

The young Amazon craned her neck over her stallion's head, her eyes narrowing and focused on a figure in the distance. It was a woman, kneeling on the dirt path, hunched over, clutching at herself, and rocking. Her dark hair fell in curls like a curtain around her, and she suddenly began shaking violently. Terreis sank back into her saddle, her jaw set tight. "You're right, Shirra," she whispered. "We have a responcibilty to serve the royal family. So, why are you so quick to deny your duty?"

Shirra's brow knit together as she squinted, trying to make out the figure that Terreis' attention was so focused on. "Is it...?"

"It's Princess Eve," Terreis whispered hoarsely, the anger and frustration of the day came like fire through her voice. "And you nearly left her like a street urchin in the dirt! Ye-ah!" she urged her stallion, who willingly followed her command. They were barely up to a trot by the time they reached Eve, and Terreis swung out of her saddle and slid on her knees in front of the Elijian. "Princess? Are you injured?" Terreis lightly touched her shoulder, visually inspecting for blood or bruising.

Eve was crying, rocking, and she held her stomach as if she were about to be violently ill. "Something's wrong," was all she could sob out. "Something's gone wrong!"

"Where is Queen Gabrielle?" Shirra demanded from atop her horse.

"Where's Jadxea?" Terreis' question overlapped Shirra's, though hers came with much more tenderness and ecouragement as she pushed Eve's dark hair away from her face.

Eve fought for breath and squeezed her eyes shut in an effort to force concentration. She still shook from head to toe and rocked to keep from sickness. "Gabrielle..." she gasped, "we-went ahead with mother." The Amazons exchanged confused looks that Eve didn't see. "Jad-Jadxea and I f-found their tracks." Eve stopped as sobs suddenly overtook her, and she fought for control. "Sh-she said she was j-just going to climb the tree. I don't- I don't know how long she's b-been gone." She suddenly gripped Terreis' arm, her eyes opening just enough to lock with the warrior's. "They're in trouble! Something's wrong!" and just as quickly, Eve's body spasmed, one arm wrapped around her middle, and the other suddenly making contact with the ground, supporting her weight.

"Just what we need; another prophecy," Shirra grumbled quickly. "Terreis, stay here with Eve. I'll ride ahead and find the Queen." Before anyone could respond, Shirra kicked her horse's ribs, and the steed shot forward.

"Wait!" Eve gasped, only loud enough that Terreis could hear her. "The horses... they won't..."

Eve didn't need to finish, Shirra's horse suddenly reared, inexplicably, and the Amazon scrambled to keep ahold of the beast. She lost her grasp a couple of times as the horse bulked and reared, whinying and stamping, but she skillfully held tight with her legs while she quickly found her grip again. Finally the horse was guided backwards, and calm enough to move away from the invisible barrier. Shirra climbed down as soon as she could, walking the horse back to the others. "She won't go. I don't understand it."

"None of the h-horses," Eve was gathering her strength, attempting now to move and stand, "they won't go beyond that area. I've-I've tried all of them!" She was standing now, braced on Terreis' arm. "We have to hurry. We don't have much time. I know where they are."

"On foot?" Shirra protested as if horse were the only means of transportation.

"Show me!" Terreis encouraged, supporting Eve, and following her faithfully. She shot Shirra a glaring look as the warrior begrudgingly followed, already annoyed with the slow pace.

...

"MOTHER!" Jadxea screamed, her shoulders and waist held tight against Hope. The young blonde examined the pit at the base of the alter curiously, her head pulled to one side, her brow knit together and her eyes narrowed. Her facination and sadistic pleasure deepened as she watched the dark figure laying over the edge, her feet linked behind a pillar, bracing her.

Xena gripped the pale muscular arm with all of her strength, releasing grunts and heavy breaths to maintain her endurance. "Hold on! Hold on, sweetheart!" she called whenever she could.

"Xena!" Gabrielle called as she clung to her lover's arm, kicking to keep away from hot rocks of the walls that singed her exposed skin when she got too close.

"Don't do this to me again! Come on, Gabrielle!" Xena yelled as she pulled, trying not to flinch each time the bard hit the rocks and screamed as her skin burned. Bursts of flames suddenly came up through the pit in protest as Gabrielle began climbing up and out. The flames swept through, claiming pieces of Gabrielle's back like whip marks, tearing the faded dragon tattoo into sections. Xena pulled harder as the blood-curdling, animalistic sounds emitted from her little soulmate. Finally, Gabrielle was close enough to grasp Xena's other hand, and the warrior pulled her bard out of the pit and into her arms. The blonde's small frame shook as she hunched over her knees, tears pouring down her face, and crying out each time Xena tried to touch her. Her pale skin was red and scorched, the flesh even burnt away in some areas, the tattoo barely recognizable anymore. "Gabrielle?" Xena searched her lover's body for something that she could immediately tend to, but there were only the burns that couldn't be touched until they were out of this.

"Jadxea..." Gabrielle choked out through the pain, her eyes not even able to meet Xena's.

Slowly, reluctantly, Xena turned away from Gabrielle and balanced up onto her feet. Her eyes rose to find Hope, an ice storm brewing in their blue depths. The chakram slice in her side throbbed, but she ignored it the best she could. Her rage was too great now to be worried about injuries. All of her anger and hatred was swirling like colors before her eyes. She took a few steps forward, and at the edge of the pit, she glanced in at the burbling molten lava. She raised her attention back to Hope, the young blonde's head still cocked and watching the scene below her in total facination. Xena smiled, her vindictive maliciousness a reflexion of Hope's former expression. Slowly, meaningfully, when she was sure that Hope watching her closely, Xena leaned over and spit into the angry flames. Hope's face contorted into angry indignation, her head suddenly pulled onto her spine, and her little frame shifted until she stood tall and straight, still watching the dark warrior, but prepared to attack at any moment.

Xena, satisfied with herself, and trying desperately to ignore Gabrielle's whimpers and cries from behind her, slowly began working her way around the pit that churned and spit fire at her when she got too close. "Now you listen to me, you spoiled, self-righteous, little brat!" she was starting up the stairs of the alter now, facing Hope head-on. "You let go of my child before I send you right back to where you came from; cold, dark, alone... no one to speak to, not knowing who anyone is. Not knowing who you are. And this time," Xena tilted her head, stepping up onto the next stair, landing about half-way to the alter, "I won't be there to protect you."

Hope's face changed again. She was confused, and her grip relaxed slightly as her eyes began darting back and forth with her thoughts. Jadxea didn't try to press her advantage; she waited instead, paying close attention to the sudden changes in Hope. "You..." Hope seemed to be struggling with just a thought, "you... looked after me. You... you cared for me." Hope seemed to be fighting with something inside herself as her head moved in jerking motions and her face tensed. "Father... father... h-he abandoned me. He left me. He let me die." Soft green eyes suddenly met Xena's wary face in unexpected clarity, "He hated me."

Carefully, slowly, Xena edged closer, climbing the stairs again, elated that their words were somehow breaking through to the girl. "You were lost. He had taken everything from you. Your memories... your powers..."

"...My child..." Hope let out an unexpected whimper. "And then I was alone. It was so cold. I was so alone. An-and then..."

"I found you," Xena encouraged, moving closer still. "Lost and frightened, and just as innocent as your new-born baby sister," she nodded to the child still wrapped in Hope's arms.

"My sister?" a softer, lighter voice was breaking through the hateful growl that it had been, and Hope looked down at the little girl in her arms as if suprised to find her there.

"Yes!" Xena smiled, glancing nervously over her shoulder as the pit spit more flames at them. "Do you remember when Jadxea was born? Do you remember what happened?"

"W-we..." Hope shook her head, her memories fuzzy and she still fought with the influence that was trying to block her, "you... and me... we were watching over them. A-and then you... you saved mother!" Hope smiled with the revelation, and Jadxea twisted to look up at her sister with a giddy grin.

"That's right," Xena nodded. "And then I had to leave. Remember?" she was only a step below them now, and she wasn't willing to jepordize her progress by moving any closer.

Hope nodded, her arms finally dropping away from Jadxea. "You told me... to-told me to stay close."

"I told you to watch over them," a cylander of fire burst from the pit, and Hope flinched, but Xena fought for the young woman's attention. "Do you remember? You took care of them!" Hope was shifting from the fire to Xena, trying to decide who to listen to, who to heed. Xena caught sight of little Jadxea sliding one foot forward cautiously, and then another. Without actually looking, Xena reached out and took hold of one of Jadxea's shoulder straps and pulled the girl sharply to her. Little arms swung tight around her ribs, and she unsuccessfully supressed a groan when the gash in her side was pressed on. She gripped the child's dark hair and pressed her tight against her chest, protectively. "Hope," Xena gasped, "_he_ used you! _He_ abandoned you! _He_ took your life away. No matter what your mother has done in the past, she has always loved you! Whatever she has done, it was always to care for you, to protect you!"

Slowly, fully conscious of the angry flames that bit and spat up toward them, Xena reached a tentative, free hand out to the frightened and confused little blonde before her. "We cared for you before, Hope. Can you trust us, all of us, to do the same again?" Hope stared, warily at Xena's outstretched hand, as if it may attack her. "Just take my hand," she encouraged. "Your choices really are simple; a father who used and abandoned you? Or the family who loves you?"

Hope's eyes darted between the dark, warm hand, and the bright orange flames that reached for supremacy. Carefully, slowly, Hope reached a shakey, pale hand out, bipassing Xena's completely, and touching little Jadxea's soft hair. The child's bright blue eyes emerged from Xena's chest, and found her sister. She drew her little mouth in a tight smile and nodded to Hope's frightened face. Hope nodded in responce and quickly took a tight hold of the warrior's ready and comforting hand.

...

The doors of the temple were thrown open and three women stumbled inside to the sight of Xena, with little Jadxea attatched to her, grasping young Hope's hand and smiling at her. Eve breathed, grinning, relieved to be greeted with such a warm, reasurring sight. The Amazons were frozen, confused and in awe of the sight. An oddly young Queen Gabrielle, holding tight to a dark woman warrior. Terreis laughed in excitement; _this_ was the great Xena: Warrior Princess of the Queen's scrolls. They had found each other!

But suddenly, there was a blast of fire that circled the high alter, strips of it licking at the three women, forcing them backwards. The three atop the alter spun in circles, searching for a way out of the fire-barrier. Just as suddenly, they recieded and seemed to begin reaching for for something else on the opposite side of the pit.

"No!" Hope suddenly yelled and took off at a run down the steps of the alter toward the pit.

"Jadxea, go!" Xena pushed the child away and down the steps of the alter. "Run! Get her away," she yelled to the group by the doors. "Get her out! Run!"

Jadxea did as she was told, immediately, running down the steps, sliding half the way down when her feet came out from under her. Terreis was there to meet her at the bottom and she immediately took hold of the young Amazon's hand and made for the door as fast as her feet would carry her. "Eve!" she cried out just as her body impacted her caretaker's sure arms. Eve swung Jadxea around and pulled her through the door, followed closely by Shirra and Terreis. The younger Amazon spun around to be sure they weren't followed. Quickly, she glanced over her shoulder, finding Shirra, Eve, and Jadxea all running for the forest. Terreis breathed hard, and slipped back inside the temple, closing the doors behind her.

...

The flames stretched and reached, merging together and then seperating as they crawled along the temple walls and stone floor. They struck forward quickly and took a tight hold of Gabrielle who was curled and weeping on the floor. The flames caught her ankles and pulled them out from under her, dragging her on her stomach toward the pit. Gabrielle writhed and screamed, clawing at the floor in a desperate attempt to get away, but the flames were relentless.

Suddenly, Hope was there. She took hold of Gabrielle's wrists, gripping tight as she pulled. Her jaw was clenched and she squeezed her eyes shut, trying to shut out her mother's cries as the torn and burnt flesh was pulled and twisted. She quickly realized that she wasn't moving, she was pulling on Gabrielle just as hard as the flames insisted in the other direction. She was amazed at her strength and she pulled even harder, gaining ground until she found Xena beside her.

The warrior took hold of Gabrielle, yelling to Hope over the bard's terrorized cries. "She told you!" Xena nodded, gulping desperately to maintain strength and focus. "You're stronger than he is! Fight him!"

Hope was trying to force her tears back unsuccessfully. She glanced around the temple as if searching for a way out, though her grip on Gabrielle never faultered. "I ca-," she gasped, "I can't!"

"Yes you can!" Xena insisted, pulling hard on Gabrielle's raw arm, and the blonde screamed in responce. "Please, Hope! He's going to kill her! Please! You're the only one who can stop him! Hope, you can do this! You have to!" But still, the young blonde shook her head, trying to get away from this pressure somehow. "Hope!" Xena caught her attention. "I told you to look after your mother!"

Stiffly, terror crossing her face briefly, Hope nodded, and turned her focus back to where she fought for supremacy over Gabrielle. She narrowed her emerald eyes on the flames wrapped around Gabrielle's ankles, and concentrated with all of her might. Gabrielle gasped suddenly as the flames seemed to pull away, as if a barrier had formed around her feet. Xena and Hope pulled hard, the bard's little frame came at them easily, and Xena caught her. The pair sank to the floor with Gabrielle's trembling body craddled in Xena's arms.

Terreis dropped to her knees beside the lovers, examining her queen frantically. Gabrielle had passed out from the pain and was now moaning and squirming in Xena's protective embrace. Xena's body was bent over Gabrielle's, sheilding her head and face, as she watched Hope intently. "What can I do?" Terreis begged, searching the dark and intense face.

Xena met her gaze and shook her head in confusion at the strange new Amazon who had inexplicably joined them. "Stay close... and don't let anything come near her," Xena pulled Gabrielle closer. Terreis nodded in her determination and Gabrielle's sais suddenly spun in her hands, their blades pointed out and at the ready.

Streams of fire circled Hope, curling and dancing around her, threatening and poking at her. But the young woman remained still and calm, secure in her power, knowing that the flames couldn't and wouldn't touch her. Slowly, she made her way over to the edge of the pit, and gazed in, her expression determined and focused. "You were all I knew," she murmered sadly into the lava. "And when you left, she was all I remembered. They love me, father. They don't expect anything from me. They don't want anything from me. Can you say the same, father? I don't want to do this," a tear slipped down her cheek and into the fire. "Just leave us alone; all of us. Don't make me do this, please, father!"

The stream of fire suddenly whipped at Hope and, with her guard dropped slightly, it tore at her robe. An obvious, long and thin burn mark stripped the back of her robe, and Hope flinched slightly. Slowly, she drew herself up tall again, her eyes intensely fixed on the pit, and her expression flairing in anger. "I'm sorry, father," she whispered, and narrowed her eyes on certain sections of the pit in turn.

Xena and Terreis jumped as the areas around Hope suddenly began exploding. The temple was suddenly showered in shards of rock as they broke away from the walls and the ceiling. The pit exploded with fire as the ceiling of the temple imploded, the rocks beginning to fill in the hole. Xena shifted her hold on Gabrielle so that her whole body was now covering her lover's. Terreis grasped desperately to be of help, but she soon caught sight of a large boulder shaking from the ceiling, readying to fall into the pit, by way of the little blonde who stood like a statue at the edge. Immediately, the Amazon jumped to her feet and ran for Hope, dodging falling rocks as she went. She grabbed the young blonde's arm and pulled her away just as the boulder fell. Hope dropped back into the Amazon's arms, exhaustion taking her over, and Terreis pulled her arm up and around her neck, supporting the young woman as they moved beyond the pair on the floor.

"Come on!" Terreis yelled to Xena. "We have to go! Go!"

Xena pulled Gabrielle up into her arms with effort and dragged her along behind Terreis. The whole structure was caving in, and with the two burdens in their arms there was no way to get the doors open. Xena's sharp eyes took in the crumbling structure, and she quickly began leading Terreis into a corner. Mother and daughter were set into the corner, positioned tight together as their protectors covered them with their own bodies. Terreis and Xena turned back, watching over their shoulders as the floor of the temple cracked, the ground beneath them suddenly quaking. Flames still tried to persist from the pit, but they were dying away quickly. The warriors held tight to their charges as the floor split horizontally at their feet, and the ground began falling away from them. Eyes were clenched tight, both refusing to watch as the world seemed to fall away from them.

Just as quickly, it all stopped, and a breeze swept past the huddled quartet. Cautiously, Xena raised her impossibly blue eyes to the sky that suddenly had opened up to them. The temple was gone, crumbled away, claimed by the sea where the ground had split. All that remained was the corner of rock that they had hid against. Terreis sat up and away, breathing in the sea air.

"Is it over?" the young Amazon gazed around herself. Xena's soft smile fell on the young warrior, and then quickly found the sweet face of her lover beneath her.

Gabrielle's eyes worked themselves open, the effort of paying attention to anything but the pain of her scorched body was nearly overwhelming. But, she worked up enough energy to link eyes with her lover and then turn her head to find the pale, sweating face of her eldest daughter. "Hey," she breathed out, and Hope pulled her head around to face her mother. "I knew you could do it!" Gabrielle tried to smile, the same pained effort reflected back at her in Hope's tired face.

...

**I hope to hear what you all think! Please stay close! The final chapter will be finished and posted soon.**


	18. Chapter 18

"Mother?" Eve and Jadxea called in unison as they emerged from the forest, tear-stained and clinging to each other. Their Amazon companion followed, her eyes wide, shaking her head in amazement. The two dark siblings ran through the field, eventually letting go of each other as they raced for the remnants of the temple.

Carefully, and with the occational cry of pain from Gabrielle, she and Hope were pulled to their feet, and their arms were looped over Xena and Terreis' necks, respectively. They slowly limped their way out from behind their stone barrier and made their way toward the forest. Eve made it to them first, throwing her arms wildly around Xena's neck and laughing as she cried. Jadxea soon followed, her little body impacting Gabrielle, and clinging there suddenly. Gabrielle grit her teeth to try to keep from crying out, but the innocent attack was too much and she collapsed in Xena's arms.

"Xea," Eve quickly grabbed the child and pulled her back away, "she's hurt! Let her go!" The pair watched Xena lower Gabrielle onto the grassy field and then sunk in beside them.

Terreis and Hope dropped to the other side of them quickly, and Hope slid herself closer to Gabrielle. She gazed nervously over at Eve and Jadxea, but her nerves were calmed when they smiled at her, and Jadxea reached across their mothers and took her sister's hand.

"I'm okay," Gabrielle insisted, breathing hard through her nose. "I'm fine."

"Listen, tough guy," Xena joked, the dust and soot smudges on her face and hair made her look even more comical, "I don't want to hear about how fine you are. Just relax so that I can tend to this. You," she turned to Terreis, her manner oddly abrasive and official, reminding the Amazon of the Queen Gabrielle she had met in the village, "I need you to go into the forest and gather herbs for a poultice."

Terreis bowed her head quickly in respect and then jumped to her feet and grabbed a hold of Shirra as she passed her. The two ran into the forest with practiced skill, and disappeared behind the foliage.

"Hey," Gabrielle called, and Xena met the soft green eyes that seemed to claim her soul, "you..." Gabrielle reached up and gently touched Xena's cheek, "you look aweful."

"Oh yeah?" the warrior laughed, gazing down at the bard with every ounce of love and respect in her body. "Well, you're no ray of sunshine yourself!"

Gabrielle tried to laugh, but the effort was just to much and it looked more like her muscles were involuntarily spasming, until she was able to calm herself. "Hope," she reached over and laid a hand on the young blonde's thigh, "I'm so proud of you! Do you know that?" she waited for a responce that didn't come for a few seconds. Finally, Hope worked her face into a small smile and nodded to her mother. "Good," Gabrielle nodded, exhaustion beginning to overpower her as she slumped back into the crook of Xena's embrace.

"Mamma," Jadxea called softly, squirming forward and vying for attention.

"There's my Little Bit," Gabrielle smiled lovingly up at her child, taking the girl's hand, and trying not to show the pain she was in. "You were so brave in there! Pretty impressive," she gripped her hand tighter, beginning to lose any resistance to the stinging ache caused by movement.

Jadxea shrugged, nervously, her eyes glued to that pain-contorted face. "Good teacher," she mumbled absently.

Xena winced, but resisted the sting in her side, as she twisted to press her lips softly against Gabrielle's forehead. "Shh, don't talk. You need your energy," she instructed softly. "This is going to hurt, sweetheart..."

"Just like old times," Gabrielle scoffed with a half-smile. "So much for progress and training," she joked, her voice hardly a whisper, and then tucked her face into Xena. A wave of pain shivered through her body and she cried out with it weakly.

Eve reached over to help as Xena began ever-so-gently pealing away straps of clothing that had been burnt into her skin. "There are clean cloths in the packs with the horses," Eve's voice shook as she spoke, offering her help with the most delicate of touches, which seemed to elicite even more outcries from Gabrielle.

"If those Amazons are smart, they'll find the horses and grab the packs while they're out there!" Xena never looked away from her work, but her voice held an edge of fear and urgency that was unmistakable.

"Mother," Eve watched Xena's tight face nervously, "is she..."

"Don't say it, Eve!" Xena snapped. "Don't even think it! We just have to clean this as quick as we can and hope that the Amazons know what they're doing out there. Can you untie this?" she released the knot that her shaking hands wouldn't work apart. Eve quickly took over, her own hands working with difficulty, but releasing the material faster than Xena could.

"Mother?" Jadxea squirmed closer, her attention quite keen to the conversation happening beside her. Gabrielle screamed as a piece of leather was peeled from what would have been the face of the dragon. "Mamma?" she tried again, desperately attempting to swallow away to lump in her throat. "D-do you want to hear a story?" Gabrielle was sobbing weakly into the leather wrapped to Xena's stomach, but the dark warrior caught Jadxea's eyes, a tear slipping past both of their defenses at the look, and nodded to the child to continue. "I...I s-sing of King Sisyphus, and his struggle of h-humanity against..."

A dark hand was suddenly set on the child's shoulder, a light-hearted, if shaken, voice following the warm comfort it gave. "Not exactly the best choice in this situation, Jadxea," Xena attempted a smile at her child. Jadxea nodded, her gaze finding Hope, and another tear slipping through to find the blonde biting her lip and crying while she watched Gabrielle writhe against Xena.

"Wait!" Eve sushed them suddenly, a hand held out as she gazed around the clearing. "Do you hear that?"

Xena raised her head from her work, Gabrielle quieting slightly, and listened with all of her senses. When nothing came, she closed her eyes and breathed hard, trying to clear her nerves and quiet the blood that seemed to be pounding in her ears. But still... nothing. "Eve... what-"

"Sh!" Eve insisted, her eyes closed now and a smile beginning to play itself across her lips. The little family waited, all listening now for the sounds that Eve was so intent to.

A bright white flash soon greeted their eyes and they shrank and ducked away from it. Eve, however, with her eyes closed and therefore shielded from the searing brightness, sat up on her knees, leaning into the light, reveling in it. It vanished as fast as it came upon them. And when the little group turned back and opened their eyes to where the blinding light had come from, they found the forms of three people standing over and smiling down at them. The three girls, tucked in and huddled around their two mothers, gazed up at unfamiliar faces, puzzled, but an odd calm washing over them suddenly. Xena, however, pulled Gabrielle closer, one arm circling her shoulders, the other wrapped across her neck and holding her head against her stomach. The widest range of emotions spread through her as she found each person who stood before her, in turn.

The last form was the one whom Xena shrank away from, pulling Gabrielle tight and shaking her head. "Celesta, no," she pleaded. "It's not time yet. You can't take her. We haven't had enough time!"

"No, no, Xena," a man, the tallest of the three, knealt in front of her, smiling kindly, "it's all right. Celesta isn't here for Gabrielle. She's safe."

"Eli," Eve suddenly breathed, recognition crossing her face like a flash of light all her own. Her elated smile beamed from her suddenly bright face. A large, gentle hand was set against her cheek as his blue eyes and fond expression bore down on her.

"My sweet Eve," he addressed her with unprecidented affection, "you have never waivered in your beliefs. That is something that not everyone can boast. It is what will always guide your family back home to each other. So," he took her hand, "how would you feel about helping me bail out these two troublemakers again?" Eli's warm smile slid over to the tangled mass that was Xena and Gabrielle. Slowly and carefully he guided Eve's hand, placing it against Gabrielle's back, the blonde spasming against the pressure. With his hand laid over hers, both Eli and Eve closed their eyes and breathed.

Hope and Jadxea leaned forward, their eyes steadily increasing in size as they watched the torn and burnt flesh mending before their eyes. Gabrielle began gasping, clutching at Xena's arms as her breathing slowly began evening out. After only a short, though nerve-wracking and painful, moment, Eli and Eve pulled away to reveal Gabrielle's smooth, tanned back. The dragon tatoo was completely ruined, with pieces missing, and others melded together that didn't belong, during the healing process. But, Gabrielle's burns and injuries were gone none-the-less, and she sat up slowly, holding her head as if it would ward off her sudden head-rush. Her long, soot covered, blonde hair fell in a cascade down her newly healed back as she sat between Xena's knees, meeting each face that stared down at her. Jadxea immediately pounced into her mother's arms, clinging to her neck desperately, and trying not to cry.

"I'm okay," Gabrielle assured, breathing deeply, and stroking her child's dark hair. She turned back, following Eve's movements, and found the elder daughter kneeling beside Xena, applying pressure to the chakram slice without Eli. It took only a second, and when she pulled away, the only trace of an injury was the cut in the new leathers.

Eve fell in beside Xena, her arms falling around her mother's waist, and her head resting on her shoulder. The four-some took stock of each other, assuring that all of this was real to one another. While Xena was laughing and pretending to steal Jadxea's nose off of her face, Gabrielle turned to include the one child she hadn't found yet.

Hope was on her knees, gazing up at the soft, pale face of Celesta with calm, knowing eyes. The Goddess reached out slowly to the young blonde, a sweet, encouraging expression assuring her while her hand extended ever closer. Without a second thought, Gabrielle scrambled to her knees and wrapped a strong arm across Hope's chest pulling her backwards.

"No! No! Not now! Not now of all times, please!" Gabrielle had knocked both of them over now in her attempt to keep Hope far away from Celesta. Hope now half-laid in Gabrielle's unsteady, but strong, arms. "It can be different now! Please! Don't take her from me now! Please!"

Celesta gazed pleasently down at Gabrielle, her mouth drawn up in a sad smile. "It is her time, Gabrielle. I do not choose these things, it is simply her time."

Gabrielle shook her head, finding her daughter's face in her arms, still staring up at Celesta in enrapt facination. "She... she's fine, though. She's not injured, she's not ill! Please! Don't take her from me," her last plea was lost in a sob, and she looked back down into Hope's focused, deep emerald eyes. For a moment, just a second, Hope was a baby. _Her_ baby; sweet, happy, curious, angelic, a gift. Her hope. And, once again, someone was trying to take her baby away from her.

"Gabrielle," a quiet voice suddenly announced itself, and the third form stepped from behind Eli and knelt between him and Celesta, in front of the mother and child, "you don't have to worry now. There will always be someone there for her now. She won't be alone."

Gabrielle could do no more than gape at the lanky boy kneeling at her feet. But Xena quickly moved close, and sunk in near Gabrielle's side. She slowly reached out and touched the boy's cheek, his name sliding effortlessly from her lips, "Solan..."

Solan smiled at Xena, his blue eyes sparkling. "I've come to take her home, mother," he nodded to Hope. "It's her time."

"Why do you keep saying that?" Gabrielle suddenly demanded, pulling Hope even tighter. "She finally has the chance for life and you're just going to take that from her? No! I won't let you! You'll take me first!" she declared defiantly, making Jadxea and Eve very nervous suddenly.

"Gabrielle," Solan touched her leg lightly, a tingling sensation spreading where he touched, "you have to understand, Hope was only allowed this opportunity for one reason. She had to redeem herself. And she's done that. She saved you, Jadxea, my mother, my sister... she saved the world, Gabrielle. And now, it's time for her to go home," his explanation was kind and soft but informative.

"She has finally fullfilled her destiny," Eli knelt beside Solan, speaking in the soothing tone he always seemed to reserve just for Gabrielle. "She finally made her choice... she chose to be The Child of the Light. She chose to be your daughter. And because of this, now she has the chance to come with us. She will be loved, and cared for, and happy for the first time." Eli's gaze shifted to Hope, whose attention was now glued to him. "Would you like that, Hope? To finally be happy? To be truely free?"

The young blonde nodded slowly, her whole face frozen in awe as she sat forward, out of Gabrielle's grasp, and took Eli's hand that was offered to her. Gabrielle and Xena rose to their feet in sync with Eli, Hope, and Solan. Both mothers waited, tense, with baited breath while Hope and Solan stared at each other, their eyes locked, and their expressions nearly unreadable. Carefully, Solan reached out and took Hope's hand, smiling kindly at the blonde. Both children looked back at their mothers, some triumph somehow washing over them, pride radiating off of all of them like physical energy.

"Wait!" Jadxea suddenly cried, rushing forward and taking a tight hold of Hope before anyone could stop her, tears pouring like a waterfall down her dark little face. "Wait! Hope, please don't go! Please! I'm sorry I told you I couldn't stay with you! I'm so sorry! I'll stay! I'll stay with you, I promise. Please!"

Hope turned, letting go of Eli and Solan, smiling down at the baby sister that clung so fervently to her. "Jadxea? Jadxea, it's okay. Shh, it's okay. I can't stay here. I don't belong here anymore. I have to go. But, it's going to be okay."

"I'll come with you then!" Jadxea insisted, her words almost unrecognizable through her tears. "I- I could come with you! And then-"

"No, Jadxea," Hope interjected softly.

"And then, then, we could be together! Just don't leave me! Just... just please don't leave!" Jadxea lost herself to tears finally, clutching at Hope's waist, her face buried in the silk of the robe. Hope combed her fingers through Jadxea's soft, black hair, raising sad, knowing green eyes to meet her mother's.

Gabrielle had resorted to clamping her hand over her mouth to control the sounds of her weeping. She rushed forward suddenly when Hope met her eyes, pinning her attention on Eli now, pleading with him. "Don't make her lose her sister, please. Please! Do something! Take me instead! Just don't take my Hope! Please!"

"Mother," Hope touched Gabrielle's face, forcing her change of focus, "no. Thank you... but no. This is my time. I know it. You can't leave. You have to raise Jadxea... for both of us. You have to teach her; you have to watch her grow. And, you have Xena again. _She_ belongs here; not I," Gabrielle shook her head, looking down at the child sandwiched between them now. "Yes, you know it. This is how it needs to be. Be glad for me, mother! I'll have peace, happiness. It's all I've ever longed for. I've never asked you for anything, mother. Give me this? Just this chance to be happy?"

Gabrielle glanced around, looking desperately for an escape, a loophole, something. But there was no way around this simple request that was the one thing a mother could never deny her child. Quickly, Hope was wrapped in a fierce embrace, the sounds of Gabrielle's tears unmistakable as their identical blonde hair mixed. "I love you, Hope! I love you so much!"

"I know!" Hope nodded, nearly subcoming to the tears herself. "I really do know, mother. And I... love you!" she admitted, the first time the phrase ever passed her lips. Mother and daughter seperated, and Hope sniffed and bit her lip, looking down at the child attatched to her. Jadxea's bright blue eyes slid up to meet her sister's, and the elder smiled at her. "I'm going to miss you," her gaze shifted to her mother, and then to Xena and Eve behind her. "All of you."

"No you won't," Gabrielle tried to smile through her grief as she reached out and pulled Jadxea away, the child clinging to her instead. "You won't even know we're gone."

Hope smiled, a true happy smile; the same that had once been worn by the beautiful golden baby tucked onto Gabrielle's lap so many, many years ago. She turned back to her travelling companions, taking hold of both Eli and Solan's hands, a warmth radiating through her. A light touch met her shoulder and some calm spread instantly through her entire body, a peace had suddenly washed over her, enveloping her like the softest of blankets. She glanced back and found Celesta's hand set upon her shoulder, the everlasting candle burning bright in her other hand. There was quiet suddenly, stillness and harmony, and Hope felt as if she had been searching for just this moment all of her life.

Gabrielle tucked her face into Jadxea's hair when the blinding white flash came again, and when it finally cleared, there was nothing left. No great prophet of a man; no sweet, sad Goddess and her candle; no lanky little boy with the kind face of his mother; and no lost child of an evil God and an Amazon princess. A presence moved behind them, and Gabrielle sighed out her last tear as Xena's arm wrapped around her and Jadxea, her hand looped in the child's silky hair. Eve slid in beside them, her forehead set against the crook of Gabrielle's neck, joining in the group stare at the place where Hope had disappeared. "So much...," Gabrielle whispered, "so much she could have been. So much she could have done. No one will ever know who she really was."

"It doesn't matter," Xena assured, her voice sliding across Gabrielle's ear sweetly. "We know! She knows! That's what matters. It matters that she proved you right. All those years ago, when she was born, and you told me that she could fight her dark side. You were right about me, I should have known that you were right about her. And now we do know! And that's what matters!" Gabrielle nodded against her, a fast, shakey breath suddenly escaping that small, tough body.

Horse hooves suddenly came pounding through the forest and soon, two riders emerged with three extra horses tethered to them. The Amazons came up on their royal family in utter puzzlement. No injuries, no hurried shouts that the Queen didn't have much time. Just a family, standing in the clearing, wrapped in each other's arms and staring off into nothing.

"My Queen," Terreis pulled up alongside them, and swung off her horse quickly, "are you well?" The young warrior searched Gabrielle's body with her eyes, but was greeted with no sign of any injury of urgency.

"Quite well, Terreis," Gabrielle sniffed and wiped away the tears from her face. "Thank you for all of your assistance. It will not go unacknowledged." Shirra had jumped off of her horse by now and was walking circles around the little family unit, as if insistant that she find some wound to tend to. "And you as well," Gabrielle nodded to the unfamiliar Amazon. "We would all be dead if not for the two of you." Gabrielle attempted a smile at the younger warrior who swelled with pride at her words. "The name... Terreis; it suits you. I have a feeling that you will become the great leader that she was not able to grow into. Give her honor, Terreis, as you've shown here today."

"I will," Terreis assured with fervent nodding, attempting a respectful bow at the same time, but losing her balance in the process.

"And you," Gabrielle addressed the older warrior who was making her third lap around the family, "I don't know your name, but if you circle us like a vulture one more time, you'll be spending the rest of the journey outside of our company."

Shirra froze in her tracks, unprecidented amounts of shame flashing across her face. "Yes, my Queen," she quickly bowed and then ran back to the horses.

"My Queen," Terreis began spinning, examining their surrounding area nervously. "The young woman. The one that I pulled from the temple... where is she?"

Gabrielle stopped, her mouth falling open, trying to form some kind of an explanation. But suddenly, from her chest, the little body attatched to her cleared her throat and looked up at her Amazon friend. "She's not here," Jadxea answered, and then a remarkable and large smile spread across her little mouth. "She had to go home again." Gabrielle pulled Jadxea close and kissed the girl's hair before she released her, letting the child's reply be the final words on the matter.

"Hey, Little One," Xena rested her chin on Gabrielle's shoulder, looking over her lover to find their child, "what do you say we head back to Amphipolis and pick up that pony of yours? I hear that she's the best horse ever! 'Everybody loves her'!"

Jadxea's face broke into a bright, beaming smile as she brushed the tears and sadness off of her face. "It's no joke! Kepi's the best horse anybody's ever had!" she boasted. One of the horses, a brown mare, snorted and stamped seemingly in responce. "Oh," Jadxea blushed, "except for you Danae!"

"Xea," Gabrielle began, the world once again somehow settling in to something normal, "why don't you ride Danae on your own? I'll ride with Xena," she smiled back at the dark woman whose strong arms held her close. She wasn't willing to lose that comfort yet.

The child scampered off, and found her mother's horse, climbing up quickly and easily. Xena kept her hold on Gabrielle's waist as they pulled the reins of the grey horse around to be mounted. Eve had just climbed into the saddle of her own old horse, beside Shirra, who was recounting how unexpected it was to find the horses wandering the path beyond where they had refused to travel before. Xena let go of her lover and swung herself up into the saddle, and then reached out with her opposite hand to help the blonde. "Care for a ride, Your Worship?" she offered sarcastically.

Gabrielle grinned and clasped the warm hand tight, her left foot finding the stirrup, and lifted her atop the horse where Xena settled her; in front. The warrior's arms wrapped securely around her bard, an assurance that those arms would never leave her again. Gabrielle pressed her hands against Xena's grip on her and leaned her head back against the warrior's chest. "Are you here?"

Xena nuzzled the blonde hair at her neck, urging Gabrielle to look up at her, and then swooped down to catch those soft lips in her own. She kissed her deeply, conveying comfort to every doubt that could ever come up between them again. The kiss broke slowly and reluctantly, but Xena's arms never waivered in their grip on her bard.

With a glance around to be sure their children were ready, Xena and Gabrielle lead the procession away from the coast, the crumbled temple, and the obligations that the past once held.

"I think a trip to Potedia is in order," Xena declared as they rode. "What do you think, Jadxea?"

...

**Much thanks to all of you who stuck with me through this journey. I hope you all enjoyed it as much as I did! It has been a strange and wonderful journey of my own. Creation began while exploring the rooftop of my New York City apartment at 4am, and four notebooks and six months later, its conclusion was found in the little room that used to belong to my cousin, who introduced me to Xena when we were 7-years-old. It was a labor of love which I look forward to finding again someday soon.**

**May the Gods be with you!**

**Catherine Maya**


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